Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
by Horizon77
Summary: Sequel to Look After You. Bella was supposed to have been killed five years ago. With the help of some trusted allies, Charlie delves into his memories to search for clues that could change everything…and bring Bella back to him. Canon through Eclipse.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:**** Any recognizable characters and ideas are property of Stephenie Meyer. I am not profiting from the distribution of this story. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Author's Notes:**** As requested by many of my reviewers, this is a sequel/prequel to my story, **_**Look After You**_**. If you haven't read it, I recommend taking doing so quickly. It's a short one-shot that sets the stage for this story. **

_**Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost**_** takes place after Eclipse, but goes off canon from that point. The present day story line takes place approximately five years post-Eclipse and follows the slightly universe I established in **_**Look After You**_**. **

"_Not all those who wander are lost." – J.R.R. Tolkien_

Prologue

Christmas 1988

Charlie POV

With a short gasp, I bolted upright in bed. My hand flew up to cover my eyes from the sudden bright light. Renee must have forgotten to turn off the light before going to sleep, again. That made the fourth time in one week.

My senses slowly woke up and were about as happy as I was to be conscious again. I could hear what woke me up out of a sound sleep coming from down the short hallway. Isabella was screaming something awful in her room. Sometimes I wondered whether or not the kid waited until I had actually had a night off from work to exercise those lungs of hers. I loved my daughter, but I could swear that as rare as they were, these screaming bouts only seemed to happen on nights I was home.

"Renee, hun, can you get this?"

When she didn't respond, I tried again, "Renee?"

I uncovered my eyes and found Renee still fast asleep, a how-to book on gardening laying open across her chest. I sighed and shook my head. Gardening was her latest thing. She wanted a large, stone-edged garden in the backyard. Not quite sure what she was hoping to plant in the middle of another Washington winter, but I humored her interest.

Renee mumbled something in her sleep, but it was too low for me to catch. How she couldn't hear Isabella screaming down the hall was beyond me. That woman could sleep through anything.

"Alright, Isabella, alright. I hear ya, kid," I grumbled as I threw the blankets off my legs.

After hurrying into a t-shirt, I stumbled as quickly as I could down the hall towards Isabella's room. "It's okay, baby. Daddy's comin'."

I flipped the light switch on and found Isabella sitting in the middle of her crib, face red as a tomato from crying. Even at fifteen months, she already showed quite clearly that she had inherited my tendency towards blushing like crazy. Poor kid. I'd always kinda hated the way anyone could figure out what I was feeling because of that damn blush.

At least she had stopped the screaming when she heard my voice from down the hall. I went over to my daughter and quickly checked her diaper. "No, all good there," I mumbled.

I reached into her crib and picked her up. "Bellie Bear, what's the matter?" I asked her, rolling my eyes at my accidental usage of her mother's ridiculous pet name for her.

The redness was fading from most of Isabella's face but was still really bright on her cheeks. Isabella looked around the room for a second and then made eye contact with me. Her face lit up into her patented, "Daddy's here" grin. Sometimes I couldn't help but think that she knew I was already a sucker for it. Lord help me one day when she wanted to buy new shoes or something.

"Did you plan this, little girl? Did you know Daddy was sleeping?" I asked as she watched my lips move.

Isabella's eyes moved back to meet mine, and she smiled without making a sound. If I didn't know better, I'd swear she _did_ know what she was doing.

I walked her to the rocking chair in the corner of her room and sat down. "Sorry you're stuck with Daddy tonight. Mommy didn't come for you this time since she fell asleep trying to save Forks from winter – one rose bush at a time."

Isabella answered in some cooing sounds that probably would have been words if she'd put some more effort into it. Clearly, Isabella wasn't in a talking mood tonight. She could get that way sometimes. She was a little lady of few words, just like her old man.

As I watched my daughter turn her attention away from me and towards the rest of her bedroom, I couldn't help but smile. I didn't know the first damn thing about kids when Isabella was born. Hell, I still had no clue what I was doing most of the time. I just hoped that she would keep teaching me in the years to come.

"You're somethin' else, Bells," I whispered.

Isabella's big, chocolate brown eyes continued to dance across the room. Tiny curls that matched her eyes covered the top of her head. How a little person who looked so much like me could be so damn beautiful was totally unexplainable. I ran one finger gently down the length of her cheek, still stained a bright red, and couldn't help thinking she was going to be a real heartbreaker some day.

"But we're not going to let any rotten boys get anywhere _near_ you until you're…what? Thirty? Does that sound good to you, sweetheart?" I asked.

Mumbling more nonsense under her breath, Isabella turned back towards me and grabbed my finger. She stared at it and responded, "Yeah."

I laughed as I watched her. "Well alright then. It's settled. I'll beat those boys off with a shotgun until you're thirty. Maybe I'll have made chief by then. I'll run 'em right out of town."

Just past the window on the far side of her bedroom, a tall tree swayed in the night breeze and caught my attention. I smiled to myself. "You know, Daddy checked that tree out last spring for you, and it's a good thing I decided it's far enough away from your window, kiddo. If it were any closer I think I'd be bolting the window shut to keep those Romeos the you-know-what away from you."

We were quiet for a moment before Isabella suddenly released my finger and started struggling again. Whatever she had wanted in the first place was apparently still on her mind. Quality time with the old man wasn't the charm, I guess.

"What's the matter, sweetheart? What do you need?"

Isabella looked back to me for a moment and then pointed across the room to her ever growing collection of stuffed animals. Right in front was one of her favorites, a little brown teddy bear Renee had named Mickey. I stood and walked with Isabella over to the stuffed animal. I handed it to her and said, "Okay, kiddo, here ya go. One bear. What do you think about going to sleep, now?"

One look at the bear, and Isabella shook her head with a pout, "No."

Damn it. She didn't want the bear this time. Of course she didn't. That would have been too easy. Isabella bent over to reach towards the stuffed animals. I laughed when I realized which one she was actually pointing at.

Renee had given Isabella a bright green stuffed monster for Christmas. It had four eyeballs and an open mouth stitched onto the front. The thing was completely ugly and the last stuffed _anything_ I would have bought for our daughter, but Renee tended to approach life from a completely different starting point than the rest of the modern world. She had insisted Isabella would love it.

I put the teddy bear back and exchanged it for the green monster. "This thing? This scary-lookin'…eyeball thing? This is what you want?"

With a smile, Isabella grabbed the monster and stared at it completely captivated. _Well I'll be damned. Bingo._

"You're a weird bird, Isabella Swan," I laughed as I walked her back towards the rocking chair. "Works for ya, though."

I sat down and arranged Isabella on my lap so she could still clutch her new stuffed animal. We rocked together in peace for a few minutes, Isabella babbling under her breath as she talked at the monster in her hands. Soon her eyelids began to droop, and I felt her body sag against mine.

"Close your eyes, Bells. Daddy's here to protect you," I whispered. I brushed the brunette curls away from her eyes and added, "You'll always be my little girl."

The rocking motion finally put her back to sleep not long after that.

March 2011

With a jolt, I sprang up in the chair at full attention. I couldn't believe I was stupid enough to fall asleep rocking Bella. I quickly glanced down at my arms to make sure she was okay.

Except she wasn't there. When I looked down and found my empty lap, the fogginess in my head began to clear. It was not 1988. In fact, Christmas 2010 had come and gone a few months ago.

I wasn't in a rocking chair. I was sitting in my living room, where I had been hunched over all night. _Gonna feel that all damn day._

And then came the realization that usually hit me sometime in the first few minutes I was awake – my girl was gone.

Sunlight streamed through the open drapes, fading out the images on the television screen. I rubbed my face and listened as the sportscasters traded off stories and catchphrases. Their energy was damn irritating this early. At least, it felt early. What time was it, anyway?

I opened my eyes and searched for the clock, thankful that I had taken a few extra vacation days to grieve Billy's passing. I couldn't even imagine dragging my sorry ass into work this morning.

Before I could find the time, my eyes found a sheet of paper lying face up on the floor. Billy's letter, the one Rachel delivered to me yesterday afternoon. It was the reason I had sat down here in shock in the first place. The reason why I had finally passed out to the annoying hymns of "Booya!" and other Sports Center ridiculousness that seemed completely secondary today.

_She didn't die, Charlie._

I bent over and grabbed the letter off the floor. Shit. What the hell was I supposed to do with this, now? Last night's vendetta for the truth seemed a little silly in the very bright light of an unusually sunny Forks morning.

But that nagging itch in the back of my mind quickly reminded me that there _had_ to besomething to this letter. On the surface, the Cullens had been a wonderful family to the Forks community. Their presence here was missed, especially at Forks General Hospital. As much as that were true, and as much as I loved Edward's gorgeous mom and sprite of a little sister, there was something off about the Cullens. Whatever that was, it may have had something to do with Bella's death…or disappearance.

Foolish as it might be, I found myself again thinking about what Billy had told me right before he died. _"There's still a bunch of stuff out there in this world you haven't learned yet. Make it your mission to find out."_

That _would_ be my mission. A little hope never hurt anyone too badly. What was the worst that could happen? My daughter and her husband would still be gone, just the same as they had been yesterday before I was given this fool's errand. But if by some miracle Bella was out there, I would find her and bring her home.

I stood up and turned off the TV, ignoring the throbbing aches in my muscles. I needed to find that PO box number the Cullens had sent me a couple years ago.

On the way upstairs to my bedroom, I carefully picked up Billy's letter and clutched it to my chest. If Bella was out there, I would find her. I had nothing left to lose.

A/N: Thanks for reading this far, and thanks to everyone who encouraged me to continue _Look After You_. I hope this sequel lives up to your expectations!

Please, please, please take a moment to review. I'm a little bit nervous about starting my first multi-chapter!

Coming up next…Chapter One - Letters to Whoever


	2. Letters to Whoever

**Disclaimer:**** Any recognizable Twilight characters and ideas are property of Stephenie Meyer. I am not profiting from the distribution of this story. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Author's Notes:** Welcome back! Thank you to everyone who read the prologue. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the reviews.

A few huge thank yous are in order for the lovely ladies behind the scenes. Thanks to JenCat for fixing my awkwardness pre-submission and yoda5683 for helping me continue to find Charlie's voice. And of course, many thanks to Wendy Ann for being my super-awesome validation beta. You ladies rock!

Now onto chapter one! Just as a reminder, this is a sequel to my one-shot, _Look After You_. Reading it first is recommended!

Chapter 1 – Letters to Whoever

Charlie POV - March 2011

Nothing. I'd been staring at the sheet of lined paper in front of me for about half an hour, but I couldn't get past the first two words. Writing the greeting had seemed easy enough.

"_Dear Alice,"_

But then there was nothing…just a load of nothing.

I tossed the pen down on the kitchen table for the fifth time. This was getting really annoying. My pen had left over two dozen black dots where I had brought it down to the paper to write _something_, _anything_, but in the end had thought better of it. At this rate, I wouldn't ever have anything to send to that damn PO box.

With a scowl, I realized that on top of having nothing to say, the damn dots all clumped together on the paper weren't even indented. Well I sure as hell wasn't going to send a letter to _them_ this way. It looked like crap.

I crumbled up the junky paper and whipped it at the trashcan. It ricocheted off the wall and dropped into the garbage. A swig of Vitamin R and new sheet of paper later, I was trying again.

"_Dear Alice,"_

But then there I was—back at square one. I was probably having trouble explaining all this because I knew Alice was going to think I'd gone completely nuts when she read whatever I finally decided to say. Honestly, would she be wrong? I was writing to Alice about a letter I'd gotten from some old coot, about how he'd told methat her sister-in-law—whose accident scene she'd been the one to find—hadn't really…hadn't really died. For God's sake, I grew up alongside Billy. I knew the Quileutes had all sorts of weird legends and quirks, but even _I_ thought this was all a little bit out there. What the hell was Alice supposed to think?

A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. Alice would probably think I was ready for the loony bin, but she'd humor me, anyway. That's just what Alice did.

It felt like I hadn't talked to her in ages. Alice would have to be about twenty-three or twenty-four by now. Had she graduated from college, yet? Did she already have a successful job working for a New York City fashion designer?

Whatever she was up to, I knew she had to be living life to the fullest, as usual. Doing things that my Bella never got the chance to do. It was that thought that got me wondering whether dumping this on a young woman's shoulders was the right thing to do.

Dragging her into this mess probably wasn't fair. Alice had been so close to Edward and…and Bella. If time had helped her move on, who the hell was I to come thundering into her life with a letter claiming that her best friend was out there somewhere? I couldn't do that to her. Not after everything she'd done for me. For my family.

On the other hand, when it came to Alice, I never knew quite what to expect. She was a tough little cookie, that one. Even as she balanced her own grief with completing her first year at college, Alice had always put me first when we talked on the phone every month. She had always been such a sweetheart…

*~~**~~**~~*

January 2007

Frozen rain pelted loudly against the front windows in waves—over and over again. Holy shit, that was obnoxious. I reached blindly for the remote in the dark living room. A man can't hear the damn TV with that racket all night.

Before the rain had frozen and started bugging the crap outta me, I'd had every intention of getting up to scrounge around in the kitchen for something to eat. Realizing that making dinner would require moving I'd decided against it. Sitting and sulking about the weather sounded much more doable than dragging my ass off the recliner long enough to find something.

I hadn't slept much last night. Like usual, I had too much going on in my head to stop thinking. Not for the first time, I had actually found myself wishing to hear those terrible screams again coming from her room – the ones I used to hear every night. Was that just a year ago? Maybe wishing for that didn't make me much of a father, but I'd rather have the screaming and have her here than…this. _This_ was almost unbearable.

The phone rang and jerked me out of my thoughts. I glanced at the caller ID and felt the corner of my mouth twitch. _Alice Cell._

I picked up the phone and hit the answer button. Before I could say anything, a bright voice on the other end shouted, "Hi, Charlie! It's Alice!"

A real smile cracked its way onto my face. "Hey, Alice. Good to hear from you so soon."

Alice had been calling to check in around the end of every month. The last time I had heard from her was on Christmas Day. I hadn't expected to get another call until closer to February. Whatever her reason for giving me a call after only a couple of weeks, I was damn thankful for it.

"Yeah, well I have some downtime here at the house. Our second semester starts on Monday, so we all spent one of our last days of freedom messing around in the snow together. The weather was absolutely perfect for it, just like I _knew_ it would be."

My head spun as Alice took a moment to come up for air. It was easy to talk with her; her mile-a-minute conversation left me too dizzy to think about anything else but keeping up.

After sighing softly, Alice changed the subject on me. "How are you doing, Charlie?"

There was that question again. I couldn't stand that damn question. No one in this entire town could start a conversation with me without it. "Chief Swan, how are you?" or "Charlie, how are you holding up?"

I usually tried not to get too upset about it. I know some folks around here really did care. But the fact of the matter was…answering honestly to the busy-body citizens of Forks would just be fanning the gossip in town. The last thing I wanted was for the Swans to be fodder for the gossip mill again. We'd already been down that road plenty of times.

Always one step ahead of me, Alice had already sensed my discomfort about her original question and tried again, "I mean, how's work? Life in Forks as exciting as ever?"

"Heh, yeah. Same old, same old. Couple bad accidents now with all the snow we've been gettin'. And I caught a bunch of sophomores smoking pot behind the gym at the high school a few nights back. Damn slackers."

I immediately felt my cheeks flush as I swore. I tried not to do that around anyone her age. Not that Alice was really a kid anymore, but it still...

Before I could apologize, Alice replied, "I'm not surprised that's where you found them. There were always rumors about that being the spot to go get high." She giggled and added, "Not that I hung out back there or anything. The smell – yuck!"

Picturing Alice's face turned up just remembering the pot's smell made me answer her laugh. "Yeah, well, their little spots come and go, you know? They'll just find a new place, now. Keeps it interesting for me."

Alice didn't respond right away. Instead, she sighed kind of dramatically. Damn it. I knew where this was heading. Sure enough, Alice asked, "And what about food? Have you been eating, Charlie?"

And here came the battery of questions. We went through this same routine at some point every time we talked. Alice had taken it into her own hands to make sure I was looking after myself. "Yeah, sure."

"Not garbage, right? Actual food? You've been cooking something for yourself?"

I shook my head. She was definitely being persistent tonight. "Yes, Alice."

"Cereal doesn't count, either, Charlie. Whole meals? I know you love your pizza, but you need to eat some protein and veggies once and a while. Sausage and mushrooms on a large thin crust aren't exactly part of balanced diet."

My heart clenched. Alice sounded exactly like someone else who used to obsess over what I was and wasn't eating. "You're reminding me of her tonight, Alice."

There was a brief pause on Alice's end. When she spoke again, there was a weird tone in her voice that I couldn't quite identify. "I just think she'd want to know you were taking care of yourself, Charlie. It's all I can do for her, now."

I wouldn't argue that. She'd always put others' needs way in front of hers.

"And what about Sue Clearwater? Are the two of you still…hanging out?"

Alice wasn't fooling me tonight. I'd caught the hesitation in her voice when she asked about Sue. Even with everything that had happened recently, Alice was still a little matchmaker. She had been hell bent on me visiting Sue and found time whenever we talked to give me tips about how to win her over.

As much as Alice may have wanted it to work out, my relationship with Sue was complicated at best lately. There was something between us. I know there was. Even with my shit for confidence around the ladies, I could pick up on sparks that big. Before the kids' wedding, I really saw something happening with us. But then so much happened afterwards, and our friendship grew more and more strained as the months ticked by.

Now every time Sue sees me, her guilt is pretty blatant all over her face. I get that she might be feeling awkward being around me since she still has Leah and Seth. I just wish she'd understand that I don't hold her kids against her. I wouldn't wish this hell on anyone, let alone someone I cared about.

I fidgeted with the chain around my wrist before finally answering Alice, "Uh, to be honest with you, we haven't really seen much of each other. And things are still pretty weird down at the Rez."

"Hmm," Alice replied quietly. "How so?"

I shrugged. "I still don't think people know how to respond to me, yet."

Alice started to say something back, but I wasn't really listening. What I had told her wasn't completely true. They responded to me down at La Push, all right. I just didn't have a damn clue what those responses meant. Sue's guilt made her avoid me like the plague, now. I swear to God she tucked tail and took off in the other direction one day last week. At the same time, Jake refused to make eye contact with me, and the rest of that pack of kids gave me the strangest looks every time I saw them.

Billy was the only one of 'em who'd stayed mostly sane and tried not to bring her up. He and I had gotten through a lot of tough shit in our day by just moving forward. Still, normal as Billy was acting, even he had moments when he'd stop and shake his head at me when he thought I wasn't looking. I think he'd long since figured out I wasn't moving forward or anywhere else this time.

"-they will, but I'm still sorry to hear that," Alice finished.

Shit. I'd missed most of what she'd just said. Gotta work on that paying attention thing. Normal folks did that, right? Paid attention? "Yeah, well I'm used to it, Alice. I'm sure Carlisle and Esme understand how it goes." I added in a smaller voice, "And you, too, of course."

Another pause. "Well, most people out here don't know about everything that happened. We don't really talk about it outside the family…"

Alice seemed quiet. I hated when that happened. When someone as joyful as her was sad, it dragged the whole damn planet down with her. But I should have expected this. Alice always got this way when they came up in the conversation.

Finally, Alice said, "Just try to remember what all of us here try to: we're still a family. No matter what. Edward and Bella-"

I cringed.

"- will always be a part of it, wherever they are."

Alice said something under her breath, but it was too quiet for me to catch. I was about to ask her to repeat herself when she continued in a stronger voice, "They were both lucky to know how much we loved them."

I didn't say anything in response. My chest had tightened painfully, just as it usually did when I spent too much time dwelling on her absence.

Alice sensed I had hit my wall, again. After a heaving sigh, she said, "Now, tell me more about that famous Forks drug raid, and then I _have_ to tell you what Emmett did to Carlisle with a snowman this afternoon…"

*~~**~~**~~*

During every phone call until they'd come to a stop, Alice tried her best to put on a smile for me. It didn't feel right for me to go to her now with this letter. There was no way I could put Alice through that kinda hell if Billy wasn't actually on to something after all.

I wadded up another paper basketball and watched it arc perfectly this time into the trash. "March Madness, here I come," I mumbled as I grabbed a new sheet of paper.

"_Dear Cullen Family,"_

I laughed. That just sounded stupid. I fired it towards the trash and grimaced. _Well, two outta three ain't bad._

"_Dear Dr. and Mrs. Cullen,"_

Good Lord. Hadn't our kids been…They'd been married, for God's sake. When was the last time I'd even called Carlisle, "Dr. Cullen?"

I watched as the newest paper ball didn't make it in to the trash, either. Two out of four baskets definitely wasn't as good as two out of three. Yikes, I was rustier than I thought. When the hell was the last time I got out to shoot some real hoops, anyway?

"_Dear Carlisle and Esme,"_

Then nothing. Again. _Nothing._ What the hell could I say to these people? I had to figure out something that didn't make me seem like a complete idiot. My pen did its dot-dance a few more times as I tried to think of what to write. At least the stupid dots were indented this time.

But I was starting to feel another paper basketball coming on as I regretted writing Carlisle and Esme's names down. That one just wasn't going to work. I was quickly figuring out that I had nothing to say to them. Carlisle and Esme were every bit as devastated as me. The last thing they needed was my meddling.

My pen once again slammed hard onto the tabletop, victim of my frustration. This time it bounced off the wood and clattered to the ground. _Shit._

I leaned back in my chair and took another swig of beer. Why was this so difficult to write? It was just a stupid letter, after all. But that was the thing. It _wasn't_ just any letter, and I suddenly found myself back to questioning whether I should write them at all.

Was it abusing the only way I had left of contacting the Cullens? That could be what was making finding right way to begin so damned difficult in the first place—a part of me just wasn't totally on board with this.

The fact was, I didn't _know_ anything, yet. And who was to say the Cullens did? Maybe they really were just weird out-of-towners that a superstitious old man had pegged wrong. Besides, Billy hadn't mentioned anything about Edward in the letter. In the end, would this _really_ be worth upsetting two more grieving parents when I didn't have anything but Billy's letter to back me up?

"God damn it, anyway, Billy," I muttered as I ran my fingers through my tangled hair.

I was a little pissed off that Billy had put this on my shoulders. This would have been so much easier if he could have wheeled his sorry ass over here before he got sick and just told me what he knew. We could have worked on this together with all the puzzle pieces in front of us. Instead, he'd pulled his cryptic Quileute crap on me. On _me_.

Billy's voice interrupted my tirade and mumbled quietly from his hospice bed, _"And you, Charlie. I hope that you can forgive me, too."_

And I would. I knew I would eventually be able to do that for him. Billy was a superstitious fool, it's true, but he didn't talk outta his ass. If he had kept this from me, it was for a damn good reason.

Carlisle's glare at the funeral played out again in my memory, and something told me that it could have been one of Billy's damn good reasons. I had seen that look. Nice family or not, I wasn't making up that little exchange. Carlisle had been warning Jacob to not…what? Do something? Say something? Maybe that was why Billy had been afraid to tell me the truth…whatever the truth was.

Honestly, it was difficult to believe Billy had been scared of anything. But if one thing made him nervous, it was my daughter's in-laws.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath.

Okay, so maybe I was coming at this from the wrong angle. If…_if _the Cullens knew something more about Bella's… death, would Carlisle _really_ be the one to tell me? Or Esme, his wife? Doubtful.

The big one…what's-his-name? The one who looked like he could eat a horse in one sitting? Very unsettling kid with all those muscles. Probably dumb as rocks. The two blonde ones were completely out of the question. Neither of them had ever smiled at me when they were here in Forks, so I doubted they'd have want to help me now.

That left only one Cullen. I wished there was another option, but she was the one I was fairly certain I could talk into helping me – the sweet, pint-sized Cullen family gossip. Alice.

If there was ever a time Alice's knowing everything about everyone else's business would be useful, it would be now. Besides I got the impression that she'd been the one to leave me the PO box number in the first place. Time for debating about whether or not this was an "emergency" was over. This would have to be emergency enough for them.

Telling myself this was the last time, I grabbed a new sheet of paper and began, _"Dear Alice,"_

If this was going to work, I'd have to appeal to her curiosity. I needed to pique her interest just enough to get her to call. I continued, _"This is Charlie Swan."_

For a moment, I drew another blank. Damn writer's block. God, this would have been so much easier if Alice were still here in Forks. Maybe crazy wouldn't seem so bad if I could have said it to her face instead of putting in on paper like this.

All the reasons I'd originally stopped addressing this letter to Alice came rushing to the front of my mind. I fought them back and willed the words to keep coming out of tip of my pen. Maybe it wasn't fair of me to go to Alice, but damn it all if she wasn't my only realistic way to get the Cullens' attention. I had to do this, and it had to be her.

"_You gave me this PO box number about two and a half years ago, now. I don't know if this is an _emergency_ exactly, but something has come up. I need to talk to you as soon as possible. It's about-"_

My pen dropped from my fingers, unwilling to write this next part. I had stopped myself just before writing Edward's name across the paper. Self-righteous, smart ass, and madly in love with my girl – was he out there somewhere, too?

Billy's letter didn't mention her husband, and I didn't want to fan anymore false hopes than I already would be. I decided I had to leave Edward's name out of this for now. Instead, I took another swig of beer for courage and finished my sentence with simply,_"- Bella."_

Still holding my pen for dear life, I let one finger run across her name just like I'd done over and over again since she'd died. _My baby. _

My vision blurred a little around the edges. I had to wrap this damn thing up while I could still see clearly.

"_Please contact me as soon as you can, Alice. This is important. Sincerely, Charlie Swan"_

Before I could lose my nerve, I quickly folded the letter and jammed it into the envelope that had been waiting patiently on the table for hours. I slowed down long enough to make sure I was addressing it right. Wouldn't it just be a kick in the balls to get this thing back two weeks later with a failed delivery? Of course that could still happen, anyway. There was no way of knowing whether or not the Cullens still held this PO box.

I didn't even bother throwing on a jacket before bolting out the front door. The weather on this March afternoon was sunny and crisp, something you didn't see too often around here. I wondered how long it would hold. Forks had a way of devouring the sunlight eventually, even on the brightest of days.

The letter in my hand made me feel completely awkward as I hurried down the sidewalk towards the mailbox at the end of the street. I felt like I was under a damn spotlight, like everyone was staring at me and knew exactly what I was doing.

_But that's ridiculous._ _No one gives a crap about me mailing a letter._

All I knew is that I wanted this thing the hell away from me. If I didn't act quickly, I had a funny feeling I'd try to go cram it into the already overflowing trashcan in the kitchen.

Finally, I reached the blue mailbox on the corner. I opened it and stared.

And stared.

I couldn't do this. I couldn't. The Cullens were going to think I'd gone completely crazy. And who was to say I hadn't? What the hell was going on with me? One minute I painted them as villains with handlebar moustaches, and the next I remembered the whole family as I had known them – kind, compassionate, and wild about my daughter. This flip-flopping from one mindset to another was more than a little manic, and it was starting to freak me out.

The sound of the mailbox door clanging shut pulled me out of my little episode and brought my attention back to the present. I looked at my hands, and then at the mailbox. Then back down to my hands…my empty hands.

_Holy shit. I think I just mailed it._

And I had. If that wasn't proof that I was losing my mind, I didn't know what was. I took a slow step back from the mailbox. Any minute now I expected a tongue to shoot out from the little door and blow a raspberry at me. Stupid mailbox.

At least it was over. It was quite literally out of my hands, now. Whoever tended to the PO box in Alaska would receive my letter within about a week's time. All I could do on this end was wait.

With a sigh of relief, I turned back towards the house. I'd reestablished communication with the Cullens, and now I had to go see if I still had any friends down at the Rez. Rachel had said the boys had been acting a bit wonky about Billy's letter. I needed to talk to her right away. She knew more than she had let on at the house yesterday. The whole lot of them seemed to know more than they let on.

I really wished I could wrestle some answers out of Jake about his father's letter, but the trick would be tracking him down, first. If there were one thing I'd learned from his two-month walkabout this summer, if Jake didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be.

A/N: Whew! That one was hard to get out! Thanks to all my readers for checking this story out and giving it a chance. Please take a moment and review, even if it's just to say you enjoyed it. It's always appreciated!

Coming up next – Chapter 2: Something to Hide


	3. Something to Hide

**Disclaimer:**** Any recognizable Twilight characters and ideas are property of Stephenie Meyer. I am not profiting from the distribution of this story. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Author's Notes:** Yes, that's right…I'm back! My apologies for being away so long. Life got a little hectic with issues I won't trouble you with. I'm just happy to have found the time and desire to write, again. I'd like to say a big thanks to everyone who read the last chapter, and an even bigger thanks to all of you who reviewed and/or favorited. It's greatly appreciated!

I couldn't have gotten this submitted without the help of the incomparable yoda5683 as my beta extraordinaire. Thanks for all you do, hon! Huge thanks also to my editing beta, JenCat, and her scary virtual red pen, and Wendy Ann, my awesome Twilighted junior validation beta.

Just as a reminder for anyone new to my little corner of the Twilight universe, this is a sequel to my one-shot, _Look After You_. Reading it first is recommended!

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Chapter 2 – Something to Hide

ChPOV - March 2011

Familiar trees reached out from the side of the road towards my squad car as I guided it around the winding roads that led to the small house Paul and Rachel shared. I wondered exactly how many times I'd been by these same trees in the past – walking, driving, biking, even crawling that one time. _Good God, we were drunk off our asses that night!_

La Push. It hadn't changed much since I was younger. Trees were the same. Roads were the same. Folks were the same. Never thought I'd be driving to ask my best friend's daughter what she knew about some cryptic letter from her dad, but I wasn't one to put too much past Billy.

His letter stirred up a lot of memories I'd made here that I hadn't thought about in years. I couldn't stop thinking about the first time Billy had mentioned his mistrust of the Cullens. They'd only been in town for a little while, but already Billy had a prejudice against them…

March 2003

Ichiro lifted his bat high in the air, and I couldn't help smiling like a fool at the television screen. I'd missed my Mariners in the off-season. I lifted my beer and took a satisfying swig. _God bless spring training._

Suddenly, the announcers' voices got lost under all the racket coming from my right. Billy had started coughing up a damn lung for the hundredth time this afternoon. I didn't like the sound of it buried too deeply in his chest. Just as I was about to sound off on my concern…again…he manage to choke out, "Save it, Charlie," before reaching for his inhaler.

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why Billy wouldn't go get a second opinion on that cough. Bronchitis my ass. Bronchitis would have cleared up by now.

Eyes watery, Billy tried taking a huge breath. When no more coughs followed, he turned to me and teased, "So, you heard from _Bella_ lately?"

I rolled my eyes—I'd caught that smart ass emphasis on my daughter's nickname. Renee had been using it for a few years, but not me. She'd always been Isabella, a name that was about three sizes too big for my klutzy girl, but one that would be perfect for her some day. I swear she was looking more and more like her mom every day; she was going to be beautiful.

But the last time I took her to California for vacation, she turned beat red at dinner one night and told me she preferred Bella, now. Poor kid was so embarrassed to have to correct me. I really had no choice but to at least try out the "Bella" thing, much as I didn't love it.

"_Yes_, I've heard from Bella, smart ass. She made the high honor roll for the first semester."

Billy smirked. "See? Been telling you for years that kid was sharp as a tack. Got her smarts from her old man."

I shrugged and ran a hand through my hair. "Uh, yeah, I don't think that's it."

"Well she sure as hell didn't get 'em from Renee," Billy chuckled.

I shot a glare Billy's way. He knew better than that. Renee still was off-limits, even after all these years. Holding up his hands, Billy said, "Hey-hey! Keep that look to yourself. I know. I know."

Billy wasn't Renee's biggest fan. Never really was. But he didn't have to be so out there with it. She was still my daughter's mom.

Before I could give him crap about it, Billy started in with that cough, again. I tossed my hands up. "Aw, come on! Will you listen to yourself?"

He tried to frown at me, but the coughing made it way less affective. "Billy, man…Go to the hospital in Forks, will ya? They'll-"

"No."

"Why? Why 'no?'"

More coughing. "You've been sick since before Valentine's Day, and it's still getting worse. The inhaler they gave you isn't doing anything for you," I said.

"Dad?" called a confused voice from down the hall.

Jake stumbled down the short hallway into the living room, clearly just waking up from an afternoon nap. It was pretty funny to watch him try to move these days—body made up of all arms and legs like young almost-teenage boys can get. He asked his dad, "You okay?"

Billy nodded, and Jake moved across the room to plop down on the side of the couch closest to his dad's chair. "Hey, Charlie," he said.

"Heya, Jake," I answered.

Jake was a good kid and genuinely concerned about his dad. Whenever I saw them together like this, my mind would wander off and start wishing that Bella lived closer to Forks than Phoenix.

But I didn't really want to dwell on that particular thought today, so I tried asking Billy again, "Why are you being so stubborn about this? I mean, we all know you're bullheaded, but this is getting ridiculous."

Just out of Billy's line of sight, I caught Jake sighing and rolling his eyes. Apparently he'd heard his dad's rationale before.

"It's that new doctor, Charlie. I don't trust him."

Of all the things Billy could have had against the hospital, I definitely didn't see that one coming. I tried to think of any new doctors at Forks Community Hospital that might fit the bill, but I could only come up with one. "New doctor? You mean Dr. Cullen?"

Dr. Cullen was the only new doctor in town and was in emergency medicine. Billy couldn't have been talking about him, though. The doc was a good guy from what I'd been able to make of our few run-ins. Besides, how the hell did Billy even know him? He only ever came to Forks to see me.

But sure enough, Billy was nodding. "Yeah, _him_. And his whole family."

"Billy, he's usually in the ER. You wouldn't even have to see him if it's that big of a problem. Dr. Cullen gets the _real_ problems that come in, not the stubborn fools who wait forever to go back to the damn doctor."

Billy met my eyes, lips pressed into a hard line. Finally he said, "I will not have anything to do with a hospital that hires someone like him."

_Wait– what?_

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jake try to cover a smirk at whatever expression had crossed my face. I'm sure it was a Kodak moment. This had just gotten bizarre, even for Billy. "_What?_"

"Dad doesn't trust the doctor's family. He thinks they're dangerous," Jake explained. "He's been going on and on about it for weeks. Harry, too."

"Jacob—" Billy cut in.

Jake ignored his dad. "_Some of us_ don't get their obsession over it."

"Jacob," Billy said a little louder this time. "Go back to your room. I need to talk this out with Charlie for a bit."

A couple more coughs and one less pre-teen later, Billy turned back to me. "You really shouldn't trust the Cullens, Charlie. Please just take my word for it."

It didn't make sense. The Cullens had been nothing but friendly since moving to Forks a few months back. Great family. Heartwarming story. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen had already become stand-up citizens in the community, and all five of those kids had kept their noses clean. I just didn't get the problem.

"Why?"

"Because you don't know the whole story."

"What story?" I asked over more of Billy's coughing.

Billy cleared his throat loudly. When he'd recovered, he completely ignored my question. "I don't care what it looks like from the outside with them. I'm not going into that hospital. And none of 'em are welcome here at the Reservation."

"Come on, now! Don't you think that's a little much?"

Billy shook his head. "We protect ours. The doctor understands."

"You actually _told_ him that?" I asked, letting myself fall back into the armchair.

Billy wasn't a judgmental man by nature. Just the opposite, really. If I didn't already know the Cullens, I'd probably be inclined to hear him out. But I was getting tired of this business from the whole town. Everyone was so damned suspicious of them just because they hadn't been here for three generations.

I realized that Billy hadn't responded to my question yet. He was good at avoiding things he didn't want to talk about, but I wasn't letting him off the hook this time. When I looked back up, I found that he had wheeled himself to sit directly across from me. I'd known Billy for a long time, but I'd never seen him quite so worked up about something before.

"Okay. You've gotta throw me a bone or somethin' here…Why? Why can't you trust them?"

"Because I can't, Charlie. Please just stay away from Dr. Cullen. Those kids, too," Billy said, coughing a little at the end.

"You know 'those kids' haven't so much as put a toe outta line since they got here. The ladies in the school's front office tell me they all have perfect GPAs so far."

One of the best perks of being chief of police? Dirt—and lots of it. I'd gotten that little gem picking up some milk at the store.

Billy nodded slowly for a few moments as he processed the information. When he finally replied, it felt like he was talking more to himself than to me. "That makes a lot of sense. I don't doubt they're trying to keep as low a profile as they can."

I snorted. "Well, I don't know if they're doing a great job of that, Billy. Have you seen them?"

As much as I respected Dr. Cullen and his family, I did have to admit that their looks _were_ a little weird. Drop dead gorgeous, sure, but weird.

A thought suddenly occurred to me, and I couldn't help laughing a little to myself before I shared it with Billy. "You know, it's a good thing Jake's not going to Forks High in a couple years. What would you have done if he came down with a case of puppy love with one of those girls?"

Billy's eyes flashed hard. "Absolutely not."

I sighed and held my hands up in surrender. "Okay, Billy. Okay."

We were going to have to agree to disagree on this one for now. No matter what Billy said, I knew the Cullens were a decent family, and I was fairly sure I could get my friend to come around. He just needed some time to get over whatever bug had crawled up his ass.

But that's the thing—he never did. Until the day he died, Billy didn't trust the Cullens. Now here I was, back on the Rez for the first time since he'd passed, and the mystery around his—and the rest of the Quileutes'—dislike of them still stood. I may not have been able to see it yet, but there had to be _something_ to their prejudice. Because if Bella was out there somewhere like Billy said, the Cullens would had to have known _something_ when they left.

After awhile, the trees parted and a small grouping of houses came into view. My squad car crept to a stop into front of Rachel and Paul's house. I could see Rachel peeking out the window as I shifted into park.

_Here goes nothin'._

Rachel had the door open before I had even gotten completely out of the car. "So when I told you not to pursue this…"

"Look, Rachel, can we talk? Paul's not here, is he?" I asked.

"No, he's out. And the baby's asleep."

I smiled as Rachel closed the door behind her and joined me on the front porch. "Good. I'd rather just talk to you. I don't think Paul ever really cared for me much."

"Paul doesn't care for his own shadow some days. I wouldn't beat yourself up over it," Rachel returned with a smile.

A few moments of comfortable silence passed between us before Rachel's smile quickly faded. "What are you doing down here, Charlie?"

"I opened the letter, Rach. I guess I have to know if it's true."

Rachel rubbed her forehead as she thought. Without letting her hand drop, she said, "I'm not sure what you want me to tell you."

"Billy told me—"

"Charlie, please stop!" Rachel said, uncovering her eyes. "What I told you yesterday…I meant it. I really don't want to know. Just drop it."

She looked back down at the wooden porch and sighed. I immediately felt like crap for pressuring her, and I imagined that I would feel like even crappier crap in a minute, but I had to do it. My gut was talking to me, and I was going to listen. "Rachel, the letter…your dad…He said she didn't die. Do you see why I had to come to you? I mean, what am I supposed to do with that?"

No response. Rachel just kept staring at the porch breathing evenly.

At least I was right about one thing – I felt like a total jackass. What the hell was I _doing_ here, anyway? Billy's fool's errand had me so hopped up I couldn't think straight. I may have just lost my best friend, but she had lost her father. I didn't need to be here right now.

Then Rachel lifted her head and met my eyes.

She knew.

She _knew_.

Her eyes found the bracelet shimmering on my wrist in the sunlight. Rachel stared at it a moment before turning her face back to mine. "Charlie, go home. Have a beer and try to forget about this. I'm so sorry for what happened to Bella…But Dad was wrong."

The look on her face now reminded me of the same one Sara would get when Billy and I would stay up all night on the porch after a full day of fishing and bullshitting. She'd come out and plead with us to knock off the male bonding and just go to bed.

And that was exactly what Rachel was doing – pleading with me. To drop it, to leave it be. I _would_ drop it with her, for now, anyway.

"Alright, Rachel, alright. Sorry to have bugged you."

_This isn't over._

I turned to leave, wondering who else might be around this afternoon who'd talk to me. I wasn't all that surprised Rachel hadn't been any help. Didn't she just try to tell me yesterday that the Blacks knew how to keep a secret? What was I thinking to—

"Charlie, wait!"

When I glanced back, Rachel was clasping and unclasping her hands together.

"Rachel…" I started.

Rachel shook her head. "Just…just…hear me out for a minute. I'm asking you to drop this, Charlie. For your own good. Please just take my word on it. We all love you."

Yeah, sure. Just not enough to quit hiding stuff from me.

But I couldn't stop the gruff voice from whispering in my head,_ "You really shouldn't trust the Cullens, Charlie. Please just take my word on it."_

I nodded once to Rachel and left for my squad car without another word, more confused than ever. Something was going on, damn it. What secret was more important than helping me find her? Was the whole Black family really that afraid of the Cullens, enough that if Bella were out there, they still felt they couldn't tell me?

Not for the first time, I wished that Billy had just talked to me in person years ago. I had so much I wanted to ask him now.

As I started the car, I toyed for a moment with the idea of seeing if Jacob was around, but I quickly decided against it. For one, those kids usually hung around together in a group. If Paul wasn't home, odds were Jacob was out with him.

For another thing, I just couldn't face that old red house yet. I wasn't good with that sort of thing. I'd only just found the courage to go back into _her_ room this past fall.

I drove out towards the outskirts of the reservation, pissed that I hit a brick wall. All I could do now was sit and wait for a response from the other end of the PO box. If I got one at all.

As I turned around one of the bends leading out of reservation, I realized my luck hadn't quite run out, after all. Near the side of the road, a young man leaned against a tree. Shirtless.

Jacob.

I didn't believe this was coincidental for a second, but one thing was for sure. I wasn't about to let this off the hook without some answers.

I pulled the car onto the shoulder and got out. "Jake? What are you doin' all the way out here…leaning against a tree…without a shirt?"

Jake smiled. Damn good thing to see. Last time I'd seen him, it'd been an all together different story. "Just waiting for you. Here seemed pretty appropriate."

"_Here_?" On the very edge of the reservation?

His smirk grew wider as he shrugged the question off, but it quickly disappeared back into the slight scowl Jake tended to wear a lot, even before his dad got sick.

"How you doin', kid? Been worried."

I hated myself the moment the question was outta my mouth. What was this compulsion to ask people who are obviously _not okay_ how they were doing? To his credit, Jacob just nodded. "Yeah, I—… Well, I guess I've been about as good as you'd expect."

I waited for a moment, but Jake didn't continue. I sure as hell wasn't going to pursue it further. Not after asking him the very question I had hated for so long after Bella's accident, but it had been out of my mouth faster than I'd been able to stop it. _Gotta focus better, Charlie._

"So, you were waiting for me. How did you know I was even down here?"

Another shrug, then Jake replied, "I'd been wondering how long it would take you to show up down here. Rachel called Paul after you left. Said you had stopped by the house. We were in the area, so I thought I would wait here for you here."

He paused and waited for me to say something. When I didn't respond, he just continued, "Rach said she brought you a letter from Dad yesterday. Guess I was curious."

_Nothing like getting right to the point, eh, kid?_

I took a step back. "Uh-huh, well, Rachel said a lot of things…Including all this stuff about your family being able to keep secrets. What happened to that?"

"Sure, sure, I can keep 'em, but let's just say I'm nosey when it comes to finding out new ones," Jake said with as light of a tone as he could muster through that cocky scowl.

"You knew he'd written something for me, before Rachel found the letter," I guessed.

Rachel had suggested as much when she'd been by. Jake looked down at his feet and shifted his weight. The way he could still somehow go from looking like a grown man back to the little boy from his past made me smile. "Yeah," he admitted. "But we didn't know what it said."

There he went with that "we" business, again. He had to be talking about the Shirtless Mafia. I could still hear the alarm in Bella's voice when she'd once told me about Jake's fear of the influence Sam Uley had over the teenage boys in La Push. Shortly after that, they had both begun singing different tunes about Sam and his pack of bare-chested boys. But I hadn't forgotten her initial reaction now. Maybe my "don't-ask-don't-tell" policy was in need of some revamping.

As casually as I could, I repeated, "'We?' Who's we, Jacob?"

Jake's hand both clenched and unclenched a couple times, but he didn't offer me an answer to my question. Instead, he turned his head so slightly to the left I almost missed it. Something told me there were more than bunnies and deer behind him in those woods.

"Who else knew about the letter?…Sam?" I lead.

With a nod, Jake said, "Yeah, Sam."

"And Paul? What about Seth? Quil?"

"Come on, Charlie," Jake replied simply. "We were all hanging out. I think you know how it is."

Jake pulled his lower lip in between his teeth. In fifteen years, I had never seen my best friend's son do that. Then Bella moved back to Forks, and he'd mimicked her ever since. Seeing one of her mannerisms still there in Jacob was oddly comforting. I was instantly in a better mood.

"Yeah, Jake. Maybe I do know how it is."

My response seemed to make Jacob relax a little. "Do you think I could see it? You know, the letter?"

"I don't have it with me, son. I'm sorry," I replied straight-faced.

The lie slid easily past my lips. Being a police offer had taught me a little something about being able to play the poker face when needed—even when I had to use it on Jacob.

Of course I had the letter with me – left front pocket. But I couldn't imagine giving it over to Jacob, even for a few seconds. I was terrified that if I let it out of my sight, I wouldn't see it again. And right now, it was the only piece to the puzzle I actually had in front of me.

Jake narrowed his eyes at me. Every cell in his body must have been itching to call my bullshit. He didn't.

"Okay," Jake began slowly. "Well, what did it say?"

"It was just one sentence. 'She didn't die, Charlie.'"

Jacob's eyebrows practically hit his hairline. He looked down at the ground, and his expression quickly settled into an unreadable mask. "Nothing else? No explanation?"

"Nope. Nothing."

I watched Jacob's reaction carefully. I knew I'd caught him off guard. Billy's message obviously surprised him; that much I knew wasn't put on. But exactly _what_ _was it_ that surprised him?

It felt like the deeper I got into this, the more confused I got.

"So…what?" I began to grab Jake's attention back from the ground. I shrugged. "Did you know about this?"

He didn't respond right away. "Like I said, I knew there was a letter." Jake met my eyes and clarified, "_We_ knew there was a letter. But Dad…He wouldn't tell us what was in it."

Jacob's face relaxed into a thin smile, and for a moment, I saw the smiley boy I had once known. "Believe me, we all tried to pry it outta him. Paul even grabbed it from Dad's desk drawer a couple days before his and Rachel's wedding. He would've opened it, too, if Sam hadn't stopped him at the last minute. Dad was so pissed off about it, he threatened to not walk Rach down the aisle and give her away to such a 'nosey sack of shit.'"

I couldn't help laughing at Jake's impression of Billy as he continued, "Rachel didn't know what had caused their fight, but she made Paul apologize over and over to him for being such a dumbass. Dad accepted, of course. He's stubborn as hell, but I honestly don't think he would have boycotted the wedding. He's not like that, you know?"

The image of Billy's face in the crowd at my little girl's wedding flashed behind my eyes before I had a chance to stop it. Mistrusting of the Cullens or not, he had been there. For me. To Jake, I simply nodded.

"After that, Sam told us not to bother Billy about the letter. Whatever it said wasn't meant for us to know."

I raised an eyebrow. "And it was over? Just like that?"

Jake shrugged and nodded.

_Huh. Okaaay. _

"So, do you believe it?" I asked.

_Translation - how much are you going to tell me, kid?_

Jake shifted his weight a few times. "Do I believe what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Jacob."

"I don't know, Charlie," Jake finally answered. "I know Dad honestly believed everything he said. Dad is…Dad was a respected Elder. I mean, you know that. He didn't say stuff without having his reasons."

Exactly the point I had been making to myself earlier today. "Well, what about the Cullens? He hated them from day one."

Jake's jaw tightened at the name. More darkly than before, he answered, "Well, yeah, he did. Maybe he had his reasons about that, too."

"Those being? Jake, listen to me, was there something going on with the Cullens?" _Come on, Jake. Grab the worm._

But Jake wasn't biting today. "Look, I wish there was something I could say, but I can't help you with this."

"Can't or won't?"

Jake sighed. "Can't…please…"

I scoffed. "Thought you wanted to talk, son. We're talking."

"I know. I know we are…I…"

He ran a hand through his close-cropped hair and tugged on it. I was breaking him down. Just a little more, now. "So what, you get what you want from me and just leave me hung out to dry?"

"No, I want to talk to you, Charlie. I do," Jake finally said as he dropped his hands back down to his sides. "I wish I could make you understand. You have no idea how far this goes."

"Gettin' the idea, kid," I muttered. "I know Billy didn't approve of Bella and Edward's relationship, but if there was something dangerous going on, I can't believe he wouldn't have told me about it before it was…"

…_too late_, I finished to myself.

I didn't know what to believe right now. To me, everyone was a damn liar.

"It's not exactly like that, Charlie. The Cullens w—"

Jake suddenly stopped talking in midsentence and stood there gaping like a fish on the hook before finally closing his mouth. He dropped all pretense and turned completely around to face the woods. I wasn't sure what he was doing, but he was turning back to me before I could think too hard on it.

Jake shook his head. "Look, if Dad thought there was more to…you know…what happened, you should probably look into it. He used to drive me kinda crazy worrying about some things, but I swear it always turned out that he had some good reason for it. His methods could be a little weird, like this letter thing and not telling you until now. I totally get it if you're annoyed with him about that. _I'm_ a little annoyed with him about that."

In a slightly firmer voice he added, "But Bella's your daughter. You have a right to know exactly what happened."

I tossed my hands up in the air. "How, Jake? What am I supposed to do?"

Jake shrugged. "Well, you're a cop, right? You've got tons of resources."

Did I? I was beginning to feel pretty foolish talking about this in the light of day. Believing an old man's superstitions and creepy warnings while in the confines of my living room was one thing. Now reality was starting to beat me over the head with its idiot stick.

"Resources? Jake, I don't know if—" I started.

"No, think about it, Charlie," Jake interrupted. "I mean, maybe they missed something at the scene."

"Jacob, do you really think I haven't personally looked at that case file before? Because I have. They had a team of pros out at that scene. I know a lot of those guys, and I'm telling you…they didn't miss anything. So all those 'resources' will tell me is what I already know. The evidence was fairly conclusive. It all points to a fatal animal attack. She died out there, Jake."

My own words socked me in the gut, but I would have plenty of time later to beat myself up for saying them out loud. Because suddenly, there it was – the signal from Jacob I'd been looking for since I pulled the car off on the shoulder.

Something had pulled at Jake's expression for only a moment, but it was there. I swear it was. He knew more. For whatever reason, he was afraid to talk about it, just like his dad had been.

Maybe Billy wasn't totally right. Neither of them might still be out there, but I was absolutely certain there was more to the story of Bella and Edward's death than anyone had let on. Jake had never been able to lie to Billy or me when he was a kid. Thank God for some things never changing.

Just like that, my head was back in this.

After letting me have my moment to think, Jake repeated, "Maybe they missed something."

My heart in my throat, I took a step towards him and asked, "Jake? Son…Are you trying to tell me that…What are you saying?"

Jake shrugged. "I'm not saying anything, Charlie. Just go find out what you can, and don't let anyone stop you. Let me know if you uncover anything…one way or the other."

He turned to leave, but caught himself. Facing me again, Jake added, "I really _am_ sorry I can't help you anymore. You know I loved her, too. But I…It's not my decision to make."

I might not understand the whys, but I did get what Jake was trying to tell me. He wasn't calling the shots, so there was no sense in arguing. There was one more thing I _needed_ to ask before he left, though. "Jacob?"

"Hmm?"

I took a deep breath and hoped he'd be straight with me. "I know how your dad felt. And I know Edward and you never got along. But the rest of them…the Cullens…Did you trust them?"

Now, I've known this kid since he was a handful of hours old and asleep in his mother's arms. I've seen him happy, sad, and totally pissed off. But I couldn't quite place his expression.

Jacob glared at me for a moment without answering. He pulled himself up to his full height and said, "To a point. But not with her, Charlie. _Never with her_."

He turned on the ball of his foot and went jogging into the woods—going God knew where in gym shoes and cutoffs. I watched Jake disappear into the trees and tried to settle myself down. I still didn't _know _anything, and I certainly wasn't fool enough to place my hope in the hands of a superstitious coot and his love struck son. But I had something to go on, now.

The file containing all the case information from the accident was housed at the Washington State Patrol Headquarters in Olympia. Not too far of a drive from Forks. I hadn't looked at the file since the day Alice and her...whatever the blond one was to her…gave statements to the officers. If I were being honest with myself, I didn't know if I was really ready to reopen that file. It would be like living the worst day of my life all over again.

But I'd have to _get_ ready because first thing in the morning I was headed to Olympia.

_You'd better have been on to something, Billy,_ I thought.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope it was worth the long wait! Please take some time to tell me what you thought if you have a moment.

Coming up next – Chapter 3: The Longest Day


	4. The Longest Day

**Disclaimer:**** Any recognizable Twilight characters and ideas are property of Stephenie Meyer. I am not profiting from the distribution of this story. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Author's Notes:** Hi, everyone! Thank you so much for coming back and sticking with my story. I know it's been awhile. I'd like to call these authors notes: "How Horizon77 Got Her Groove Back." I'm going to be honest, here. The last five months or so have been incredibly difficult. At the last minute, I had to switch from teaching sixth grade to kindergarten, which was a huge challenge for me. Just when I finally had some time to write again in November, my grandma suffered sudden heart failure. We spent a few weeks thinking we were going to lose her at any moment, but miraculously, she pulled through when the doctors had told us that she was too weak to ever recover. Needless to say, I was in something of a tailspin for awhile and not really in the mood to write. I'm happy to say that my grandma's recovery paired with my reassignment back to middle school for the second semester was enough to lift my spirits and push me towards brushing the dust off this chapter and finishing it.

I greatly appreciate the messages you guys sent to check up on me…I hope I can update with more frequency now that the dust has settled a little.

To all my readers, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your support. This fandom is one of the best around! Thank you to my reviewers and those of you who favorited! Great big Emmett-sized hugs to my awesome beta, yoda5683, for giving me feedback in the middle of a very busy week. You're the best, lady! Thanks also to Jencat for bringing her red pen down on this chapter!

_From Chapter Two: Nothing to Hide…_

_The file containing all the case information from the accident was housed at the Washington State Patrol Headquarters in Olympia. Not too far of a drive from Forks. I hadn't looked at the file since the day Alice and her...whatever the blond one was to her…gave statements to the officers. If I were being honest with myself, I didn't know if I was really ready to reopen that file. It would be like living the worst day of my life all over again._

_But I'd have to get ready because first thing in the morning I was headed to Olympia. _

You'd better have been on to something, Billy_, I thought._

Chapter 3 – The Longest Day

ChPOV - March 2011

I turned my car off of the 101, happy to finally be on a different road. The trip to Olympia from Forks wasn't really so bad, but it sure felt like a long damn time stuck on the same road for over a hundred miles. On the other hand, I wasn't exactly in any hurry to get to where I was going.

Despite what I promised myself, I hadn't actually gone down to Olympia the morning after I talked to Jake. In fact, it had taken me three whole days to finally make the trip. It started out by just needing to work up the courage to bring all those memories back up to the surface, but then two days ago I got called back into the station early from my leave. The guys needed my help to wrap up the investigation of yet another unexplained mystery in Forks. To tell the truth, I was getting pretty sick and tired of those.

For almost a year now, some strange stuff had been going on around Forks, not the least of which were the huge boulders that had been appearing randomly on the 101 and 110. It had happened three times, now. Twice they had crushed cars flat beneath them. The last fatal accident had been two days before Billy's death.

Thing was, there was never any damage to the surrounding area, no crush patterns that would indicate the boulder's trajectory. Each time, it was as though the thing literally fell from the sky. This one had taken a family of four with it – two of them small children. Dealing with the parents' sorrow on top of Billy's declining health had sent me into the tailspin — and that had only been made worse by my friend's death and post-mortem letter.

So here I was — finally en route to the Washington State Troopers station, not knowing quite what to expect. The conversation I'd had with Jake was on a constant loop in my memory. I turned the radio on and cranked the volume a few dozen miles back because I just couldn't shake his voice from my mind.

_Hearing voices, again…You're losin' it, old man._

That's how it felt, anyway. I had just driven for hours because a 21-year-old kid told me to. I wasn't sure what I would find in that file that I hadn't noticed before, but Jake seemed adamant that something wasn't right. In all my years as a cop, I'd learned a bunch of life lessons. One of the most important was to always go with your gut, and I had a gut feeling today that Jake was right. I just didn't know what the hell that meant.

"Charlie Swan for Jim Rink, please," I said flashing my badge at the trooper behind the window.

Jim was a high-ranking trooper in the Investigations Division for the Washington State Patrol. He was born and raised in Sequim and was an officer for a few years in Forks before leaving us for the big boys in the state patrol. Even though Jim left not too long after my rookie year, we'd remained in contact over the years. We'd called on each other for favors more than a handful of times, and a few days ago, I'd called him with the biggest one I'd ever had. I needed as much of the information in the WSP's file on the kids' accident as I could get. Jim was a good guy, and I knew if anyone would help me here, it was gonna be him. My Forks badge didn't mean much here without his assistance.

"He'll be right down," the trooper on the other side of the glass told me as he laid his phone back down on its base. "So you're chief up there in Forks, huh? I thought you looked familiar. Got any new leads on those boulders?"

I felt my lips pull into a scowl. "Not a one, uh…Stevens," I answered using the name off his name plate. "Doesn't surprise me. Never gotten one before."

"I know what you mean," Stevens said. He sat back in his chair. God, he looked like he was still in high school. Couldn't they afford actual cops down here? "My buddy and I went up there a few months back responding to a road blockage in the middle of the 101. That thing was pretty big – like four feet high and right in the middle of the lane. We had no idea where it came from."

I nodded. "I was there that morning, too. Damnedest thing."

"At least that one didn't hurt anybody."

"At least that."

Before Stevens could say anything more, I heard the security door pop open behind me. I turned towards the sound and saw a familiar face.

"Officer Swan," Jim said with a smirk as he quickly approached me.

I grabbed his extended hand tightly and replied, "That's Chief Swan to you, Jim."

"Heh, I suppose it is. Come on up," Jim said. He gestured towards the elevators behind the security entrance.

As he keyed in the code to the heavy door, I caught sight of the manila envelope tucked closely to his chest. There was no writing on the front and no wear from frequent use. It was just like any other manila envelope I'd seen before. Except this one held all the documents that made what happened out in those woods official, which made it anything but ordinary to me.

"Right this way, Charlie."

I liked Jim, I did. But I just couldn't focus on all the small talk as he led me down the short hallway towards the elevators. The envelope swaying back and forth next to him was like a pendulum, and damn it all if I couldn't stop watching it. I just hoped I was "Mmm-hmm"-ing in the right places.

The elevator ride to the second floor was over quickly, and as the doors opened, Jim gestured to follow him. "I've got an empty office set up for you. It hasn't been used for awhile — well at least not for business — so no one should bother you."

"'At least not for business?'" I repeated back. I didn't know if I liked the sound of that.

Jim laughed off my worries. "Just some after hours poker games. Not that cops would ever play for money, right Charlie?"

I tried to laugh, but I'm not sure how convincing it actually came off. Now wasn't the time for joking around. I just really wanted that damn file.

Sensing my frustration, Jim lifted the envelope in his hand. "Here's everything that we still had in hard copy. We've gone digital in the last couple years, and some of the hard copies were tossed when the information was transferred into the database." He dropped the envelope back down at his side. "Like I said on the phone, man, I can't let you see anything that isn't in this envelope – absolutely nothing off the digital mainframe…Forks badge or no Forks badge. And speaking of which, when you walk out of that office, you never saw this stuff, Charlie. I'm serious."

"Don't know what you're talking about, Jim. I'm just looking over some evidence about that boulder you boys investigated back around Thanksgiving. Tryin' to connect it up to the one we found a few days ago. That's all," I replied. "I might be from a Podunk town, but I'm not stupid."

"I know you're not, Charlie. You're a good cop," Jim replied. "I'm just worried is all."

I scoffed. "Well, like I said—"

"Not about the damn file, Charlie. About why you're really here. This is a little messed up, don't you think? For God's sake, if it had been my daughter—"

"Your daughter's going to graduate from UDub this year. It was _not_ _your_ _daughter_," I interrupted, my cheeks growing hot.

Jim gave me a moment to collect myself. I muttered an apology I didn't completely mean, and he repeated, "If it had been _my_ daughter, I wouldn't be touching this stuff with a twenty foot pole. It would be too horrible. Besides, don't I remember you looking at all this years ago? Why are you torturing yourself with it now?"

Great. What the hell was I supposed to say to that?

_Because my best friend told me my daughter's still alive out there._

_Because his son's__ cryptic shit and his daughter's begging me not to just egged me on all the more._

_Because if Bella's out there somewhere, I'd be damned if I wasn't going to move every mountain it took to find her...or at least find out what really happened to her._

Of course, none of those reasons made me sound the least bit sane and wouldn't help my getting into that office with the file as fast as I could. I gave Jim the best answer I had. "I guess I just needed to see it one last time."

With a shrug, Jim replied, "Well okay, man. You got it." He thrust the envelope towards me. "But we're even after this, got it? I'm not putting my ass on the line like this again any time soon."

"You would if I asked you to, old man," I said, allowing myself a little smirk.

Jim held the envelope out to me and chuckled softly. "Yeah, you're probably right."

I grabbed the file and turned to enter the room, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me from taking any further steps. "Charlie, I should tell you that I did a little digging, and I _was _able to find the recording of the interviews you wanted. They're on a CD in there for you."

'_Absolutely nothing off the digital mainframe,'_ _my ass, Jim._

Jim frowned and continued, "But look, you might not want to listen to it…I remember Michael telling me that you were pretty messed up that day, man. Looking at the file is one thing. Playing the tape?" He shook his head and sighed. "And just because it's an extra copy of the interviews _certainly_ doesn't mean that CD's going home with you. You hearing me?"

"I do…And I'll think about not playing the CD, Jim. I will. Thanks."

As I walked into the small room, I heard the door close softly behind me. The furniture in the room was sparse with just a table, two desk chairs, and a CD player. I sat down on one of the chairs and laid the envelope on the table.

_It was now or never._

I carefully upended the envelope and dumped the contents onto the table. An olive file folder marked "Cullen, Bella/Edward" fell out first, followed by a CD in a thin paper sleeve. After laying the manila envelope to the side, I picked up the folder and quickly opened it before I could change my mind.

A standard report greeted me first. Nothing out of the ordinary. If I ignored the names on the top of the page, I could almost be impartial. Almost.

The report detailed the condition of the scene and the evidence discovered there. I skimmed the descriptions but wasn't finding anything new. The campsite had been torn up in the area where they'd been storing the food, and there were signs of a struggle. All of their personal belongings were there completely untouched. Hair and scraps of clothes had been found, as well as bear fur, tracks and blood.

Forensics reports were next in the folder. My eyes caught something about female blood on the scraps of clothes before I quickly flipped the page. I kept turning the pages until I'd gotten past everything forensics had to say. I didn't really need to read about what parts of my daughter they'd found on her clothing.

Pictures of the scene and evidence were the next and final pieces in the folder. _Not looking at those either._

I rubbed my face roughly with both hands and took a shaky breath. I knew the worst was yet to come. Jim had meant well warning me against playing the CD, but I had to listen to it. Jake told me to use all the resources I could find. If this CD could help jog my memory from that God awful day, then so be it.

"Here goes nothing," I whispered as I hit play.

State Trooper Michael Lee's voice came through the speakers, even and professional – everything I wasn't that morning. And just like that, I was thrown back into the worst day of my life.

August 27, 2006

Forks Police Department

This wasn't happening.

This couldn't be real.

How could I be _here_ – in the same station I'd spent my entire career in – doing…_this?_

I paced.

I stood against the wall with my arms crossed.

I paced again.

_**How**__ could I be here?_

The shittiest part was that I'd known it. The second I opened the door and saw two uniforms standing on my front step, I knew that something terrible had happened. Unis don't show up at your door overnight _unless_ something terrible happened. Unless they're sure.

Bella and Edward had gone missing from their campsite sometime between eleven and midnight. Alice had apparently called the police when they discovered bloody scraps of clothing matching the shirt Bella had been wearing.

Nothing about this was fair. She just got married. _They_ just got married. They were eighteen, for Christ's sake. What the hell kinda sick-ass universe sends in a bear to attack eighteen-year-old kids?

A surge of anger rolled though my body. I spun around before I could get a lid on it and punched the wall closest to me. "GOD _DAMN IT!_" I yelled.

Flakes of white paint and powdery drywall covered my knuckles. My breaths were coming hard and fast, panting even, but somehow I felt myself able to quickly calm down in spite of the anger I could still feel trembling through my body.

"Charlie," said a voice quietly from behind me.

Carlisle's voice drew my attention to the set of cheap plastic chairs that made up the waiting area at the Forks PD station. Sitting huddled on those chairs looking about as out of place as could be were the Cullens. Some of 'em, anyway. Alice and the blond boy were curled up on one chair – she was clinging to him on his lap. The skin under her eyes was stained with eye makeup that had come off with her tears. At least she wasn't crying for now. Don't know that I could have handled Alice's tears.

On their right were Esme and Carlisle. Esme had kept her head buried against her husband's shoulder the whole time I'd been here. Even though I knew that Esme was hurting like I was, I hated that she'd clearly given up. This wasn't over. They could still be out there. It was going to be alright. Damn it, it was going to be alright.

But it had been Carlisle's eyes that had originally made me uncomfortable the minute I came barreling into the station. I hadn't been able to make eye contact with him since, and I definitely didn't dare to look now even though he'd called my name. His eyes – it was like they'd held nothing. I knew that look. I'd seen it on too many dads before. He was a father who'd just lost a child and looking at him was kind of like looking into my future. I knew Carlisle had already accepted the unacceptable, but I just wasn't giving up that damn easily.

I didn't respond to Carlisle. I couldn't. This wasn't happening, after all. None of this was real.

_This wasn't happening._

"Yes, it is, Charlie," Carlisle said, audibly swallowing a lump in his throat.

_Damn it. I said that last part out loud…and shit, my hand hurts._

I looked down at my trembling hand. When did it start shaking? Nothing felt broken, which was more than I could say about the wall. But holy crap was it gonna be sore in the morning. The knuckles had already started to swell.

"Charlie," Carlisle tried again.

"Don't, Carlisle. I'm not doing this with you — not right now."

"Charlie –"

I met his eyes – those stupid lifeless eyes. "Just stop sitting there saying my name, alright? That isn't helping me! And neither is just waiting around here. I should be out _there!_" I said, pointing to the windows behind the Cullens. "I can't do anything here! I can't _help her_ here!"

Carlisle's eyes darted over to his son and mine followed his. I immediately calmed down when I saw the effect my raised voice had on Alice. The way she'd shoved her face into her boyfriend's chest made her look completely wrecked, not to mention a mirror image of her mom. I couldn't even start to think about the night she'd just had. Last thing she needed was me making it worse.

"Let me look at your hand for a second, Charlie," Carlisle said gently, pulling my attention away from Bella's best friend.

I hesitated for a moment, completely embarrassed about what I'd done to the wall, but I decided that my pride wasn't worth turning down a doctor's offer to help. When I'd reached him, Carlisle took my injured hand in his cool, free one. As he inspected it, I said, "Carlisle, I shouldn't have raised my voice. Yelling's not gonna change anything, so...I'm sorry."

"I know," Carlisle said, accepting my apology. A little life sparked behind his dark eyes for a moment as he added, "I doubt they would have wanted us to be yelling, though…or punching walls."

Past tense. Was that the way it was going to be from now on? Past tense? "Please, just…Just don't talk about them like they're already gone, Carlisle. We still don't know…"

Carlisle's eyes met mine. Clearly, he thought it was already over. He was kind enough to not comment this time, though. Instead he confirmed my diagnosis. "Nothing is broken, Charlie, but you're certainly going to have a lot of bruising. We should get some ice on it to help reduce the swelling. For what it's worth, I'm sorry I didn't stop you in time when I saw you getting worked up over there."

I shrugged it off. "Well, it's not like you could've predicted that the stupid old guy was gonna punch the wall or somethin'."

Alice lifted her head from the blond's chest and said, "Charlie, I…" but her voice immediately trailed off. All the Cullens, save for Esme, were now looking past me, and Alice had hunkered down into her boyfriend's arms.

_Must be time._

Sure enough, I turned and saw Michael Lee walking towards us. He was assigned to the investigation, and I couldn't have been more relieved. I'd worked with a lot of good guys from State Patrol, but I'd also worked with a bunch of cracker jacks. If I wasn't going to be allowed to officially work on this case – of all the cases in the world to not be on – I was glad Michael could take the lead for me.

Reading off his clipboard, Michael asked, "Alice Cullen?"

"Yes?" Alice responded, voice cracking.

"We're ready for you back there."

Alice caught Carlisle's attention and nodded at her father. Carlisle said to Michael, "You'll be needing to speak with my son, Jasper, too. Would it be possible to take them both at the same time? Alice is pretty shaken up by everything."

_Jasper. The blond one's name is Jasper. Gotta remember that._

In response, Alice looked at Michael and turned her doe eyes up to full power. God bless her for being able to pull that look out at a time like this. To his credit, Michael resisted the urge to break protocol. "I-I'm sorry, sir. Policy's pretty specific on this. I can only take them one at a time."

Carlisle started to argue, but Alice got slowly to her feet and shook her head. "It's alright, Carlisle. I don't think anything will change his mind…I'll be okay. Promise."

In the middle of taking her first step, Alice froze and looked as though she was listening to something. I was about to ask her what was wrong when Michael sighed loudly and began, "I know this is a difficult morning for you all…Here's what I can do for you. Let me take Mr. Hale first, and then Miss Cullen can join us when we're finished. That's my best offer."

"Thank you, Mike," I whispered to him. I wasn't stupid – his decision would have been much different if I wasn't standing right in front of him.

Jasper stood and got Alice situated next to her mother before following Michael back into our little interrogation room. After grabbing myself a plastic bag full of ice, I leaned against the wall and let my mind wonder.

We passed the time waiting through Jasper's interview in silence. I don't think any of us much felt like talking. At least Esme had stopped sniffing against her husband's shoulder. Instead, she sat quietly next to her daughter with her arm around her shoulder.

Before long, Michael came back into the room and gestured towards Alice. "You're up next, Ms. Cullen. As long as your brother doesn't say anything, he's free to sit with you. Does that sound okay by you?"

Alice nodded and rose to follow him to the interview room. As I began to fall into step behind her, Michael stopped me with a firm hand on my shoulder. "Charlie," he warned, "you're the last person I need to quote procedure to. You're not listening in."

"The hell I'm not," I argued.

"We're handling the investigation, not the Forks PD. And in any case, you're one of the parents. I'm not about to let you anywhere near that room. I'm sorry."

_Well that's just too damn bad._ I puffed out my chest and said, "Remember exactly whose interrogation room you're using this morning. This is still my department. Don't make me flash my badge in your face, son."

Michael rolled his eyes, but nodded. "Fine. But if I catch hell for this, I'm putting it squarely on your shoulders."

As Michael led Alice down the hall, I turned to face Carlisle and Esme. "Did the two of you…I mean, if you want to listen in, too—"

"That won't be necessary," Carlisle responded automatically as Esme fell back into him. "I don't think my wife or I can…"

I nodded to him and left the waiting area without another word to go to a tiny room adjacent to where the interview was taking place. On the monitor, I could already see Michael with Alice and Jasper. He had a notepad in front of him and was speaking to the two of them. I switched on the audio feed so I could understand.

"—ington state law mandates that all interviews performed by state patrols are audio recorded. Do you understand, Ms. Cullen?"

"Yes," she said simply.

"Alright," Michael said getting down to business. "Can you please explain to me what you were doing out in the woods on August 26?"

Alice took Jasper's hand. "Yes, well, we were camping. My family loves to camp when we can, and we figured this would be our last opportunity to go before leaving for school."

"And when you say 'we,' who were you referencing?"

"Edward, Bella, Jasper, and me. We got there yesterday afternoon and set up the campsite."

Michael nodded. "Okay. When was the last time you saw your brother and his wife?"

My heart clenched hard in my chest. Hearing these questions – standard questions in a case such as this – hit too close to home. I felt my heart rate increase as I listened to Alice's response. "Maybe at 11:30 or so at night."

"What happened at 11:30?"

Alice ducked her head in a way that reminded me of my little girl – so much so that it almost looked like an exact mimic. Those two spent way too much time together. "We had been hanging out together around the campfire for awhile, but then Jasper and I…Well…"

"Miss Cullen?" Michael prodded when Alice didn't continue.

"We wanted to go for a late night swim," she finally answered. My hazy mind had difficulty figuring out where Alice was going with that at first, but the embarrassment rolling off her in waves made all the pieces click together.

_Oh. "Late night swim."_

"I see," Michael said. "And how long were you away from the campsite?"

Alice thought a moment. "Maybe an hour or so. Hour and a half tops."

"Were you within earshot?"

"No, we…we went down to the lake. It's probably a mile away. Maybe a little less."

Michael sat back a little in his chair. "I see. That's a little far away to be hiking in the middle of the night, don't you think?"

"We camp out that way often. Both of us know it pretty well," Alice replied.

"Alright." Michael stopped for a minute to write on his note pad. I took the break in the interview to quickly unclasp my bracelet. I needed to feel the links between my fingers, to hold on to a part of her if I was gonna make it through this.

Michael looked up from the papers in front of him and switched gears. "So you were out at the lake for approximately one to one and a half hours. What happened when you got back?"

Alice's face pinched. "I…we…" She looked to Jasper for help explaining, but he shook his head sadly. No one could help her with this right now. "They weren't anywhere around – Edward and Bella. And the bag with the food was on the ground, all torn up. I started calling their names, but then Jasper found…He…"

After bowing her head to collect herself, Alice continued, "Jasper yelled for me. He found a chunk of Bella's shirt and it looked like there was blood on it."

Even though Alice hadn't said anything I didn't already know, I still felt the room begin to spin with her description. I lifted a hand to my head and took deep breaths. The officer in me was automatically using up part of my brain to draw conclusions and determine timelines, but I didn't want to be the chief of police right now. I just wanted to be a dad for a few minutes more pretending like everything was going to be alright.

But the fact of the matter was that it just _wasn't_ alright.

The interview continued in the other room, and I tried my best to follow, but the words were all jumbling together. My brain had finally caught up to what my cop's gut had told me the minute the uniforms explained what had happened – something terrible had happened out there in the woods.

My bracelet slipped from my hand and dropped to the floor as I let my body fall back against the wall. Was this room always so small?

Somewhere outside of the fog that was chocking me, I heard the observation room door open. The audio feed was switched off moments before I felt a woman's cool fingers brush against my wrist as she fastened the bracelet back on.

"Alice, I'm sorry that I-"

I stopped mid-sentence when I opened my eyes and realized it was actually Esme standing beside me, staring at her fingers running across the metal over and over. She wasn't saying anything, but I don't remember seeing anyone look so brokenhearted.

_Jesus, is this what I look like?_

"Thank you," I mumbled quietly. "How did you know that I…that I needed…?"

She finally looked up. Her husband's eyes had been so distant out in the waiting area, but Esme's eyes mirrored the anguish I was trying so hard – and failing – to keep bottled up. I wanted so badly to believe that Bella was going to be okay somehow, but it was hard as hell to hold onto that looking at Esme now. "I knew you were in here by yourself, and I couldn't imagine what you might be listening to. I didn't want you to hear that alone."

Esme moved her hand from my bracelet further down to take my hand in hers. "Charlie, I am so, so sorry."

Present Day

Esme stood with me in the small observation room for the rest of Alice's interview. I still don't know how she drummed up the strength to do that for me. It hadn't been fair of me, but I let her comfort me without being able to do the same for her.

Alice's voice continued to speak through the CD speakers describing the process of calling for help – both from the police and her father. To be honest, I was only half-listening. Maybe Jim had been right. This was obviously too much for any father to sit through.

I pressed pause on the CD player. Alice's voice was only drumming up bad memories of standing in that stiflingly small room losing hope of ever seeing my little girl again. I needed to focus and get a hold of myself if I was still going to be useful.

To be honest, I wasn't sure what I was even looking for. Everything seemed legit in the all the reports. But Jake told me to look closer at the files. He seemed so damn _sure_. What the hell did that kid know?

I took the report back out and sat forward in my chair. This time, I was going to look at it from a more objective prospective. Like a cop. Jake was suspicious about the accident. If Bella wasn't killed by a bear in those woods, what could have happened?

As unlikely as that sounded to me coming from the law-abiding-to-a-fault Cullen family, I needed to approach this like a cover-up. When Billy told me that Bella didn't die, I had to wonder if he meant that she didn't die that day or at all. What would I be looking for if this were a murder? Or a kidnapping? What didn't add up?

The report was impersonal enough if I let it be. Problem I had the first time through had come in the letting it be part. _Think like an officer, Charlie. Come on, man. You're not getting this opportunity again._

Evidence described long, brunette hair discovered throughout the scene and into the woods surrounding the campsite. Unknown substances on the hair had been noted the last time I read the report five years ago, but they'd been identified since then. Hairspray – and a lot of it.

I grabbed a little notepad out of my back packet and jotted that down. My little girl had loved many different things, but clothes and hair stuff just hadn't been up her alley. While I didn't put it past Alice to do her hair – even just for camping – it was still something to consider. Hadn't Jake told me to look for _anything_ that didn't seem right?

No male hair was discovered at the scene. Scraps of clothing – some covered in blood – were. Bear fur. Traces of animal blood on a branch in the campsite. Muddy bear paw prints on ground and food packages.

"Huh," I said under my breath. _Now _here's _something weird…_

One of the investigators who'd been at the scene noted that the K-9 unit refused to track the scent from one of Edward's shirts into the woods. The dog had willingly and successfully followed Bella's scent into the woods about two hundred yards before losing it, but according to the report it wouldn't do the same with Edward's scent. After sniffing his shirt, the dog took a couple steps away and put the brakes on when his officer tried to guide it forward. The investigators tried one more time, but the dog "freaked out" and tried to get away.

I had no idea what the hell that meant, but it was going on my list. In all my years as a cop, I had never heard of a highly trained K-9 unit refusing to work like that. The investigators in the report chalked it up to the scent of the bear, but I wasn't convinced.

There was nothing more in the report as far as I could tell, so I moved onto the forensics reports. I tried to read the first one, then quickly changed my mind. Still wasn't strong enough for that.

Instead, I began flipping through the pictures. When I came across one of the shredded food bags, I stopped on it for a second and shook my head. The Cullens were such experienced

campers, so it must have been Bella that left the food on the ground. I could feel the old anger coming on. _You would have thought one of the three of them would have reminded Bella to keep the food up high, for Christ's sake._

I'd barely finished that thought when another picture caught my eye. It was a small, almost insignificant detail – a picture of Bella's wallet. Both hers and Edward's wallets had been discovered at the scene, along with their cell phones. Somewhere in the file there'd also be photos of the wallets and phones at the campsite where they'd been left, but this picture spoke louder to me than anything else I'd turned up.

The picture was from when the evidence was brought in and was meant to illustrate that no cash or credit cards – particularly in Edward's case – had been taken. But looking at this picture of Bella's open wallet, I started to wonder if something _had_ been taken, after all.

Bella had kept a ratty picture of Renee and I on our wedding day with her ever since she'd been old enough for a wallet. I'd seen it a handful of times on our yearly two weeks together, both in Forks and California, but I'd kept my mouth shut. Preteens and actual teens are like ticking time bombs, so my goal during those trips was to avoid talking about anything that might embarrass her or make her think twice about coming back up to see her old man the following year.

Once Bella had been living with me for a while, I finally felt okay asking her about it. She'd made a stink about paying for pizza that night with money she'd earned at her new job with the Newtons, and I'd noticed the picture when she went to pay the delivery guy.

"I don't know, Dad," Bella had said as she was working on the dishes. "I guess I just like having it with me. I actually don't really remember _not_ having it. Renee still claims to this day that I stole it from one of her drawers when I was little." She smiled and shrugged. "You guys look so happy in it. Back when I didn't see you that much, I used to look at it before I went to sleep. Made me feel better."

I remember her blushing and shrugging her shoulders again before lecturing me about how much of the pizza I'd inhaled that night. That was all Bella was going to say about the picture, but the message had been pretty clear. It meant a lot to her, and she liked to keep it close.

The picture in my hands showed that the plastic photo insert was still in Bella's wallet, but the wedding picture had been replaced by one of the school photos Renee had taken each year as a teacher. The wedding photo was gone. "Well, I'll be damned," I whispered.

This had to be it – the sign I'd been waiting for since I got to Olympia. I tried to beat back the hope overtaking me, but it was like playing Whack-a-Mole. Every time I pushed a bit down, more just kept popping up. Billy was right. Jake was right. Bella was out there, and she took her favorite picture of Renee and me with her.

I got outta my chair and began to pace. My heart felt like it was going to beat right through my damn chest. Hope was still Whack-a-Moleing away in me, and I needed to get a grip fast. I was getting _way_ too ahead off myself.

Once again, finding out new information had left me with far more questions than answers. I sat back down and tried to put my cop's hat back on.

Just what the hell happened that night? If Bella and Edward hadn't been involved in a bear attack out in those woods, then whoever had laid out the evidence had done a damn good job. Expert, even. They'd known _exactly_ what cops would look for. The case had been declared a fatal bear attack without hesitation.

That meant that I couldn't use any official lines of investigation from here on out. If I went into the FPD claiming that the Cullens had faked Bella's death and maybe even Edward's, I'd be locked up faster than I could say "Coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs."

Problem was I had no idea where to go next, and I had a lot of unanswered questions. Why'd Bella do it? What was so terrible that Bella felt she couldn't tell me? Did the Cullens force her into staging an elaborate death? Would that have even been possible? How the hell did Jake and Billy get wrapped up all in this?

Most importantly, I needed to find out whatever the hell I could about the Cullens. They had to have known something. No one could have pulled off a stunt like that in the woods without some serious resources. And it would explain the funny look in Carlisle's eyes the day of the funeral – the one I've never been able to forget.

_But where in the name of God could I even start?_

Suddenly, I felt very alone. Jake couldn't help beyond what he'd already given me. Something – or someone – was holding him back. But what he hadn't said was more important than what he had. Never once did he discredit his father's claims. He knew it was true. It was all true.

I looked at the list, paper trembling in my unsteady hands. I finally had proof. Not a hell of a lot to stand on, but it was something. And after twenty years of being cop, I could work with something.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I'm so embarrassed about the wait. Please take some time to let me know what you thought!

Coming up next – Chapter 4: Everybody Lies


	5. Everybody Lied

**Disclaimer:**** Any recognizable Twilight characters and ideas are property of Stephenie Meyer. I am not profiting from the distribution of this story. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Author's Notes:** Ug, sorry about the delay, guys. Writer's block + death in the family and my brother's wedding nightmare have taken the fun out of writing for a while. At least I was finally able to crank this one out!

A gigantic round of applause to my betas yoda5683 and jrs_storm. They're supportive and just generally awesome beyond the telling of it!

Most of all, thank you so much to all my readers for bearing with me! As always, big hugs to my reviewers and those of you who favorited!

_From Chapter Three: The Longest Day…_

_Suddenly, I felt very alone. Jake couldn't help beyond what he'd already given me. Something – or someone – was holding him back. But what he hadn't said was more important than what he had. Never once did he discredit his father's claims. He knew it was true. It was all true._

_I looked at the list, paper trembling in my unsteady hands. I finally had proof. Not a hell of a lot to stand on, but it was something. And after twenty years of being cop, I could work with something._

Chapter Four – Everybody Lied

Charlie POV

March 2011

"Shit," I mumbled as I ended the call and slammed my phone down satisfyingly onto its base.

Well, that was all of 'em. I'd spent the last week trying to verify the Cullens' adoption paperwork, or rather to just verify their existence. The files themselves were closed to everyone but the Cullens' eyes, but I was using my badge for every last ounce it was worth to see if they at least checked out.

They did. Every damn one of them.

The group in charge of Jasper and Rosalie Hale's adoption had just finally returned my phone calls to confirm they had files on record for them. To be honest, it had been a long shot to begin with. Of course the adoptions were valid. Why wouldn't they be? If it weren't for Billy and Jake's wild goose chase, I'd have never thought twice about those stupid records.

Honestly, contacting the adoption agencies was just a last ditch effort to track down information – any information – on the Cullens.

When I got home from the police station in Olympia, I had racked my brain for anything else I could remember about the days surrounding Bella and Edward's accident. In the end, I hadn't come up with much more than I had at the station – except for the food situation at the campsite, that is.

The police reports had listed the food storage's low proximity to the ground as the probable cause of the bear attack. Bella would have been the only one amongst a group of highly experienced campers to have not realized the potential danger in leaving food on the ground, and knowing Edward's over-the-top protective streak, he never would have left food duty up to her.

I didn't know what to make of it other than there was just something off about the whole thing. It went on the list.

As an afterthought, I had also made note of the Cullens' grief in the days immediately following the accident. That was the only chink in the works – the only thing working against Billy's conspiracy theory that my daughter hadn't actually died in those woods. I knew real pain when I saw it; I'd seen way too much of it in my career. What I saw from all the Cullens was real. It practically came off them in waves.

Could it have been possible that the family didn't know what really happened? Had this somehow stayed between Edward and Bella?

There were far too many unknown variables, and it was throwing off my search. Here I was, a week in, and still sporting a pretty pathetic set of clues to Bella's disappearance.

I grabbed my ongoing list from the end table and had a seat on my armchair. My eyes quickly scanned the list, and I felt just as lost as I had ever since coming home from Olympia. I still didn't really have a leg to stand on.

_- B's hair – hairspray?_

_- K-9 unit refused to track E's scent_

_- Wedding photo missing from B's wallet_

_- Food at the campsite_

_- Mourning…did the Cullens know?_

I flipped the paper in my notepad and looked at the next shorter list of oddities I had collected about the Cullens themselves. If Bella really hadn't died camping, there had to be _something _in the family's history that would set off a red flag. But the more I tried to find out about them, the more I realized I didn't even begin to have the resources to make any real headway. There wasn't much information about them in the public sector, and my FPD badge only got me so far outside of Washington state.

Regrettably, I now added as an aside to my list, "_Adoptions all check out_."

Researching the kids' adoptions was the last in a string of futile attempts to find out more about the Cullens. All five kids had near perfect GPAs at Forks High, as well as their high school in Alaska. I couldn't find any other educational information outside of what the overly-eager-to-help FHS secretaries had given me.

I originally assumed that meant their previous school records were from before the adoptions, and therefore would be under different last names, but wouldn't they have still traveled with the Cullen kids throughout their education? Records like that don't just disappear.

While I had no idea what missing transcripts might mean, it had been the first weird thing about the Cullens I'd written down. I had sworn to myself that anything I found that didn't seem right would make it onto my list, no matter how odd.

_- Transcripts missing – all Cullen kids pre-adoption_

I looked at the second item on my list and shook my head: "."

Money. A lot of money.

The Cullens had money; everyone in Forks knew that. Seeing a doctor pull into a hospital parking lot in a Benz wasn't really a surprise to anybody, but it was so much more than that.

Until the night of the wedding rehearsal, I'd never been inside the Cullen's gigantic home. Sure I'd known it was huge, but until that night, I hadn't understood exactly how much of the surrounding property they owned. And the cars? Good Lord, the cars. After the reception, I watched Edward drive my little girl away in an Aston Martin and realized that it was much more than just a doctor's salary they were living on. The Cullens had some serious family money.

My buddy, Richard, down at the bank had confirmed – over the fourth beer I'd bought him – that not only had the the Cullen's account at the bank been completely massive, but also that money was wired in from other banks. _God Bless the Miller Brewing Company for that nugget of information._

With that and the estimated value of the home and the cars, I immediately added dollar signs to my list. The Cullens had more money than they let on. Quite a bit more. Certainly enough to pay off the right people to stage an accident.

_But why?_

This is where I kept shooting blanks. Wasn't the motive what it all kept coming down to?

Despite all the evidence in front of me, I just couldn't get it in my head that the Cullens would knowingly lie to the police and stage an elaborate accident in the woods. I didn't care what the guys on the Rez thought of the Cullens; this kind of behavior from them didn't add up. Or maybe it didn't add up cause I just didn't want to admit that two and two really do equal four. I didn't _want_ the Cullens to have been capable of something like this.

Esme? Alice? I knew they loved my daughter almost as much as I did. I _knew _it. They wouldn't have done this to me, to _her_.

But the fact of the matter was somebody lied to me. That was the damned short and long of it. I just didn't know if it had been the almost-too-good-to-be-true Cullens or my only child; my dead friend or his green-eyed son who'd yet to move on.

I just knew that _somebody_ lied.

My work cell's obnoxious ring interrupted my thoughts and brought me back to the present. I stared at it, ringing and vibrating on the table next to me. There was no way I was in the mood for whatever the hell was going on in Forks this morning.

"Swan," I said curtly.

"Chief?" I recognized the caller as one of my officers, Anne. "I know you're off duty today, but we need you down here at the station. Brian never came home from his shift last night. His wife is here right now. She's pretty upset, Chief."

_Brian never made it home? What the hell happened?_

I sat up straighter in my chair. "What do you mean he never came home? Where did we have him last night?"

Damn it, anyway. I hated asking that question. Before Billy passed away, I wouldn't have had to ask that question. I used to know everyone's daily assignments like the back of my hand. This little obsession of mine had completely taken over my life, and for the first time, I felt ashamed of it.

Thankfully, Anne was none-the-wiser to my embarrassment. "Brian was on patrol for most of the evening. At 2:07, dispatch contacted him. Some campers had reported a large ruckus in the woods. They figured it that it was coming from west of the 110."

My heart jumped up into my throat. I knew those woods. I knew them too well.

"A-a ruckus? What kind of ruckus?"

On the other end, I could hear Anne's breath catch a moment as she read further into the dispatch log. "Says here the caller told dispatch it sounded like two boulders crashing together."

_Son of a bitch. More boulders._

When I didn't respond right away, Anne continued in a rush, "But-but they weren't sure. Brian radioed in when he reached the approximate location, and that's the last we have from him. Uniforms were unable to locate his squad car. Should we send someone out to investigate the woods?"

Already in motion before Anne was done speaking, I moved around the house grabbing my wallet and badge. "Yeah, but call county before you do it. I want a team out there, and I want them safe. I'm on my way in right now."

I opened the front door and took one last look at my list, still sitting by my armchair. As much as I would rather continue mulling over what I knew, I had to get to the station. I was getting pretty sick and tired of all this unexplained shit happening in my town.

"Sorry, sweetheart, I gotta get this," I whispered to Bella and quickly locked up behind me.

A little more than three hours later, I finally let myself back into the house and toed my boots off at the front door.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath as I fell back into my armchair's well-worn cushions.

Alexis Delany, Officer Delany's wife, had been beside herself when I'd walked into the station. Rightly so. This wasn't typical behavior for Brian, which was grounds for concern. We put an APB out on the squad car but hadn't gotten a hit off it yet. Meanwhile, my officers had started working with county to look through the woods. No sign of Delany or the commotion that brought him there.

Mercifully, my deputy had stopped me from joining the search when I pulled up alongside the road in my cruiser. It was my duty as chief to be in those woods, but it was probably best for me as a father that I didn't step foot in them.

So here I was, back in my armchair and feeling about as useless as could be. My eyes caught sight of my little notepad on the table next to me, and I groaned. When did my life get so complicated? Was this really easier than when I had thought my daughter to be long since at peace?

_No. Shit, no. _

Nothing was worse than that. I'd take all the complication and frustration in the world if I could prove Billy right - that Bella was still out there somewhere.

I picked up the notepad and studied the list – the one with what the notes about the Cullens. Having stepped away from the Cullen Zone for a few hours, I was able to process the information with a fresh set of eyes. Researching them hadn't turned up much, and I wondered if I was going about this the wrong way.

Maybe the problem was I'd zoomed in too far. I was seeing all the little details about the accident itself and missing the obvious bigger picture. If the Cullens really were guilty of faking my daughter's death, then there had to have been warning signs I'd glossed over in the past that could indicate something wasn't right.

Billy's hatred naturally came to mind. What the hell kind of family gets banned from a reservation? The Cullens, save for the debacle with Edward leaving, had always seemed so kind. What the hell hadn't I seen that the Quileutes had? If I'd learned anything in the last week or so, it was that I needed to trust their instincts above my own right now. They knew something I didn't.

"And it would have damn well helped for you to have given me _somethin' _to work with, Billy," I muttered under my breath. "One day, you and I are gonna have a little chat at the pearly gates about this."

Having slumped further into my chair, I tried to think past the awful time surrounding Bella's accident and back to when I had a lot of contact with the family she'd marry into. Had I noticed anything off? Anything at all?

I stared at my paper. Tapped my pen against the pad. Scratched my ear with the cap.

Nothing.

Rather, nothing of significance. Obviously, they were all good-looking. Ridiculously good-looking in a bizarre, improbable kind of way. Even little Alice looked like she belonged in a Victoria's Secret catalog instead of the dark hallways of Forks High School. Unless being born beautiful suddenly made someone a criminal, that didn't mean anything to my cause.

"Aw, damn it," I grumbled, unable to stop images of Alice in Victoria's Secret lingerie from ghosting through my mind. That was neither helpful nor appropriate. What the hell was the matter with me?

I'm sure Billy would have had a zinger ready to answer that question for me. My chest constricted just a little; I'd been dealing with his last mission for me for seemingly forever; it was almost difficult to remember that he really hadn't been gone for that long.

"Gah, not doing this right now," I said as I sat up in my seat.

Come on, come on. What else did I know about the Cullens?

Carlisle and Esme had a large, adopted family for such a young couple, but I knew why they'd taken the kids in when they had; I'd verified the adoptions. Nothing significant there, either.

_Think, Charlie. God damn it._

I rubbed my face with the palm of my hand. Ran my fingers through my hair. Tipped my head back and groaned pathetically.

Again…nothing.

The problem was that when it came to the Cullen I saw the most, Edward, I barely remembered a time when just looking at the kid didn't piss me off. Especially after he and Bella had returned from California, I'd spent most of my time around him imaging all the different spots on his body I could use for target practice, not taking inventory on his quirks.

I laid my notepad on the table beside me and slowly stood. One long and severely needed stretch later, I was headed into the kitchen. If I was gonna keep this up for much longer, I was sure as hell gonna have a Reiner in my hand when I was doin' it. Thinking about the Cullens too hard always meant thinking about _her_. Billy's letter or no, remembering the good times still hurt like a bitch.

As I reached into the fridge for my beer, I caught sight of the kitchen table out of the corner of my eye and couldn't help but smile. Maybe looking into the Cullens wasn't so bad after all. I hadn't thought about one of my better Dad moments with Edward since before the accident…

August 2005

Bella sat across from me at the table in her usual spot, barely coming up for air as she chewed small forkfuls of pasta and chatted nervously about her day with Alice. I honestly couldn't remember hearing her string that many words together about absolutely nothing in all the months since she'd moved back to Forks. The only explanation had to be our dinner guest.

Sitting awkwardly next to me at the kitchen table was Edward Cullen, he of a thousand food allergies. Or a special diet. Or whatever the hell the reason was that he never ate with us. He somehow managed to always slink over to our house _right _after our nightly meal – planned perfectly to skip right to cuddling with my daughter on the couch or on our back lawn. _Convenient timing, kid._

I swore I saw Edward glare at me out of the corner of my eye, but when I looked over, he was concentrating on his plate and pushing the remainder of his small helping of noodles around with a fork. _God forbid he eat a full meal like a normal human being. I'm sure Bells was careful to follow his dietary needs._

Edward sighed and twisted more noodles onto his fork, and I watched him chew them forever before swallowing with a slight grimace. At least Bella was too busy yammering away to catch his rude reaction to her cooking.

What _was_ she saying, anyway? I'd been focusing most of my attention on intimidating Edward for the first half of our meal to catch most of her desperate attempts at conversation between the three of us.

"So then, we _'had' _to go to four different stores looking for a purse. I saw some that were fine, but Alice just kept saying that we hadn't found the exact one she wanted to get for Esme. And I think that's ridiculous because she always _knows _what store she needs to go to. I swear she was doing it just to keep me in that mall for as long as possible."

_Oh good God, Bella is still talking about shopping. _

I figured now was as good a time as any to take pity on her and interrupt the running commentary. "Hey Bells, this pasta is really good. New recipe?"

Bella sputtered for a second, almost as if she couldn't just stop the babbling midstream. "Oh, um, y-yeah. Just trying out some new things. Glad you like it."

I looked over at Edward and raised my eyebrow. Like it or not, he was going to be polite and compliment the chef.

"Yeah, love, it's good," he said with a little smirk.

I choked on the sip of beer I'd just taken. _Love? When the hell did they start throwing _that _word around?_

Bella blushed from her hair down to her toes and squirmed in her seat as she mumbled something back to Edward that I didn't quite catch.

So, it was like that then. I couldn't say it was something I necessarily wanted to hear from that boy's mouth towards my daughter after the hell they went through in May, but I wasn't about to question it with the kid sitting right there. Besides, my relationship with Bella had always had been don't ask, don't tell. And I really didn't want to be told anything more about _that _word right now.

With a shrug, I swirled some more pasta onto my fork. "Huh. Alright."

Edward took another bite and made that pinched face again.

"Uh, Dad?" Bella said, grabbing my attention away from Mr. Scowl. "Why don't you tell us about your day? I think if I say anything more about shopping I'll have officially turned into Alice, and…Oh my God, why didn't you guys stop me?"

A forkful of pasta unwove itself from Bella's fork as she spoke and landed with a splat back on her plate. She muttered something about her clumsiness and tried to pick it up again. I caught Edward staring at her, smiling the kind of smile that no father wants to see on his daughter's boyfriend's face. It seemed very genuine, like he just enjoyed watching her. Problem was I had been seventeen once, too, and that sort of smile led to exactly one thing at seventeen. It certainly had with Renee and me…repeatedly.

_All the more reason for me to take this opportunity to tell them about my day_, I thought with a smirk as I remembered the look on the Thomas boy's face as I escorted him out of the back seat of his car.

Edward groaned next to me. Here we went with the food, again. _Gees, kid…Give it a rest. You can go sip your damn tofu shakes or whatever as soon as we're done here._

"My day? Well you know, wasn't very exciting. Nothing like shopping for purses must have been."

Bella lifted her head to frown at me, then shot Edward an equally dirty look when he laughed along with me. "I'm sure it was thrilling, Dad," she said.

I put my hands up in surrender for a moment before going back to my meal. "Well, I had some paperwork I needed to catch up on. Met with some of the guys about new equipment that's coming in. Like I said, wasn't very exciting." I paused to take a bite and build up to the moment. "Oh, but there was one interesting thing. Caught a couple kids from your school getting a little too close in the backseat of a car just off the 101. Gave them a pretty good scare, but I definitely didn't need to see that much male…business this afternoon.

"Long story short, you two, make sure all your friends know that we patrol those roads pretty good for any parkers. Wouldn't want someone you know to wind up just as embarrassed."

Neither one of the kids said a damn thing as I lifted my fork to my mouth again. Yep – message received loud and clear. There would be no silver Volvos or red Chevys parked along any road in _my_ town.

When I looked back up at my daughter, Bella's mouth was still frozen in a perfect "O" for a long moment before she went back to eating. "Uh, y-yeah, sure, Dad. Will do."

I was still chuckling to myself as I walked back into the living room and took a seat in my armchair. The looks on their faces had been absolutely priceless. Edward wasn't really one for blushing, but Bella had been red as a buoy floatin' in the ocean. To tell the truth, I had felt just a smidge bad about it afterwards since neither one of them really ate much after that.

_Huh._

Well that was something that hadn't occurred to me, yet – Edward's strange diet. I had questioned it a few times over the course of their relationship, but never really pursued it much past asking Bella what was up with him from time to time. I always got the same canned answer from her anyways about allergies and nutritional supplements.

But it wasn't just Edward. Alice never ate anything over by us, either. Even when she brought over a meal Esme had prepared for Bella and me, she'd make her excuses.

So what had been going on in that house? Couldn't be genetic because the kids were all adopted, and most of them weren't even related. Eating disorders were probably out, too. Those kids were all healthy as horses.

I wasn't sure what Edward's bizarro all-tofu all-the-time diet had to do with the accident in the woods, but it was a start. Wasn't this list all about including everything that _could_ be a red flag, no matter how insignificant it seemed? One thing was for sure – it beat writing, "They're all beautiful," down as a viable clue.

On my list, I added, "_Weird diet – never ate_," underneath "_Not allowed on the Rez._"

My pencil immediately added a third bullet point, "_Uneasy around Edward_," before I really even knew I was doing it.

_Jesus, was I?_

The answer was yes. It was a little startling. I don't know that I'd ever formed that thought all the way through, but yeah – Edward made my cop sense tingle. I usually dismissed that feeling I got down the back of my neck as my instincts fighting the urge to deck him one, but maybe that wasn't it.

After thinking about it for a moment, I crossed off "Edward" and rewrote the bullet point as, "_Uneasy around them."_ Carlisle's expression at the memorial wasn't one I'd soon forget, even if some days I thought I'd imagined it. The more I thought about the clues, the more I realized I probably hadn't.

_Carlisle…California._

I'd almost forgotten about that…

March 2006

I cast a line off the boat and huffed.

Billy looked at me out of the corner of his eye and asked, "You gonna talk about it?"

"Nope," I replied immediately.

He frowned a little deeper in my direction before turning back towards the water. "Well, I think you should talk about it."

"I'm fine."

Another dirty look. "Those mutilated worm parts down there sure as hell tell a different story there, Chief."

I glanced down at the wormy mush in question. Okay, so I mangled a couple pieces of worm trying to get them on the damn hook. No cause for the Spanish Inquisition.

"I said I'm fine."

It was crap. I knew Billy wouldn't let that slide.

Sure enough, he shook his head and said, "'Fine.' Yeah, okay. That's why you're out here fishin' with me in the middle of the week…to say nothing about mashing our bait into slop." Billy smirked and added, "That's all fine. Totally normal."

"Don't be a smartass, Billy."

"Don't lie to me, Charlie."

Ignoring my muttered response telling him where to go, Billy said, "Come on. How in the world are you 'fine?'"

I didn't have an answer for him. Billy was right. But given everything that had happened in the last four days, I felt as though it were justified.

"Alight, alright…You got me. This sucks."

Billy braced his pole against the side of the boat and turned to face me. "There it is. Been wondering if you were ever gonna spit it out."

Honestly, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to put this week into words yet, either. It had been utter hell. The very last thing I'd expected coming home from Harry's funeral was a note from my daughter telling me that she'd run off because Edward freaking Cullen was in trouble.

Bella had changed so much since she came to Forks. Over the summer, I thought it was for the better – the much, much better. But that Cullen kid was like a toxin to her. Depression to the point of being catatonic. Jumping off cliffs for shits and giggles. Flying to another state…again…because something was wrong with Edward Cullen.

I hated what that kid had done to her. I hated that she'd refused to live when he'd walked out on her. But most of all, I hated that she'd gone running to his rescue without a second thought.

Bella had been too exhausted for school yesterday, which suited me just fine. At least when she was at home, I could keep her from seeing that slimly little asshole.

But today? Today Bella was back at school with that Goddamn prick, and I was…Well, I was fishing. Or trying to, anyway. Cause what the hell else was I supposed to do? All I could think about what ripping that snot-nosed kid to shreds. I sure as shit wasn't going to be very useful to anyone in Forks.

"Billy, I…shit…"

He didn't say anything in return, but let me have my moment to think. I looked out over the water and shook my head. Had it really been over ten years since I'd first taken my little girl out here with me? La Push hadn't changed in that time. Same trees. Same traditions. Same friendly folk. But Bella? She _had _changed.

_And that's what makes this so damn hard._

"I don't know…It feels like I don't know her anymore. Bella, I mean."

"Why do you say that?" Billy asked, his eyes narrowed.

I turned my pole a fraction of an inch back and forth in my hands to keep them busy and responded, "I just…I just thought I got it, the whole teenage love-sick thing or whatever. I mean, it was pretty intense between those two last summer, but I-"

With a shrug, I leaned back in my seat and looked up from my idle hands. "I should have stepped in sooner - should have made her take a break after the whole Phoenix disaster last spring. But I didn't…and now this? That kid dropped her in a flash when some hot California tail was on the line. She barely eats or speaks for months, and the minute he's feeling blue she's crossing state lines to go comfort him?"

A growling kinda shout got past my lips before I could put a lid on it. "GAAHHHH! It isn't normal!"

"No, it isn't," Billy agreed calmly.

"So what now? Do I have her checked out or something?"

Billy narrowed his eyes. "Your daughter isn't the problem here, Charlie. It's those Cullens-"

"Now hold on," I interrupted. "I'll be the first one in line any day of the week to say that kid of theirs is a complete douche bag for using her the way he has, but can we please leave the rest of them out of this for a change? I'm not in the mood for this."

I heard Billy sigh and grumble to himself as I looked back out over the water and continued, "Bella's a damn good kid. I don't know what Renee did right, but my daughter turned out pretty incredible."

"She did," Billy agreed simply.

"So why the hell did I make her show me her boarding pass yesterday?" I shouted back as I turned to face my startled friend. "Why can't I shake this feeling that…God, I don't know. That something just-just wasn't right!"

Getting this out was every bit as hard as I figured it would be. I hated that I didn't completely trust my daughter. When the hell had that happened? "I just think that there was more to the story than she told me."

"And did she have it?"

"Have what? The boarding pass?" Billy nodded. "Of course she did. Sea-Tac to LAX. A late evening flight, just like she said."

Billy made a noncommittal sound, but didn't say anything right away. I was glad for the moment alone with my thoughts. It gave me time to think about what a shitty dad I was for even questioning Bella in that moment. Every time I did something like that, I realized how little time I'd actually gotten to spend as a father.

Finally, Billy cleared his throat and interrupted my moping. "Why didn't you trust her?"

I hid my face behind my hands. "Because she took her passport with her…And because the Cullens weren't in Los Angeles."

"What?" Billy responded loudly.

"The Cullens…they weren't in Los Angeles." I dropped my hands back down to my lap and clarified, "At least, I don't _think_ they were."

"How did you know that?"

I shrugged and picked up some more bait. "I tried to find them back in the fall when Bella…When Bella was the way she was. I thought maybe I could talk Carlisle into having Alice come visit or something."

Billy leaned forward and motioned for me to continue. "And? What did you find?"

"Nothing," I mumbled as adjusted my line a little. "I called every hospital in Los Angeles looking for a Dr. Cullen. They weren't there, Billy…I'm sure I just must missed one or something, but when Bells left me that note, I couldn't help but doubt that she'd actually gone to Los Angeles."

A moment passed between us while Billy thought about what I'd said. He watched the water crash into the side of our boat with a grim expression I knew well on his face. I'd seen those set lips and scrunched up eyebrows enough times to know what they meant. There was something he didn't want to tell me.

_Well, here's your opportunity, old man. _

But Billy didn't say anything. Just kept staring at the water.

I tried prompting him. "Look, if you knew something, you'd tell me, right?"

Billy's line pulled suddenly pulled hard, and he took his time reeling in his catch and detaching it from his hook before he finally answered me. "If Bella told you she was in LA, and she had a boarding pass to prove it, I'm sure that's where she was, Charlie."

Yeah, that's probably right.

Present Day

Billy had his chance right then and there. He could have told me what the hell was going on in that family – the real reason Bella had seemed so scared for Edward in her letter to me.

He didn't, and damn him for it.

So after stewing about it for over two more weeks, I finally just came out and asked Carlisle about not finding his hospital when I tried to reach out to him. He'd calmly told me that while they were living within the city limits, the hospital had actually been in the suburbs at a prestigious teaching hospital.

Carlisle's story checked out. One quick Google of the hospital name he'd give me and I'd found an article from the hospital's website about his departure. The whole thing had almost been _too_ easy. And just like that, I'd excused everything away like always and stuck my head right back in the sand.

But what if Bella _hadn't_ gone to LA? What if the boarding pass had been some sort of decoy? Surely if I was saying that the Cullens had enough money and resources to stage an animal attack, they could also have purchased separate tickets to LAX to cover their tracks? Created a phony article on a website?

Even as I added "_California?_" to my list, it felt really wrong doing it. First off, by including it I was officially turning into the crazy old man who saw conspiracy theories everywhere he looked. Sadly, being crazy wasn't even my biggest concern. If I believed this…and I think I did…then that meant that Bella lied to me about where she had gone – proof that I really was on to something.

That right there was enough to warrant throwing back a beer or two to calm my nerves, but I resisted the urge. I wanted to be fully in this moment because I felt like finally…_finally_, something was coming together in my mind. Like the fog was lifting, and I was starting to see things as they really were.

The Cullens had something to hide and the money to cover it up. I was sure of it. I just didn't know what that something was.

A heavily locked and guarded vault in the very back of my mind protected the last memories I had of my little girl. For four and a half years, remembering that day two days before her death had symbolized everything that was unfair about life. She'd been so happy. So ready to start her college career. How could Bella, who'd never harmed a soul, deserve to have her chance at life ripped away from her?

Now I was starting to see everything I'd missed. The bracelet she'd given me. The tears in her eyes I thought had been about leaving soon for college. The way Edward smiled so sadly and uncharacteristically at me from over Bella's shoulder. Whatever the Cullens' secret was, Bella knew what it was.

And she knew that she was never going to see me again.

It wasn't that some_one_ was lying to me. They all were – the Cullens, the Quileutes, even my own daughter.

I stood up and kicked my armchair. It skidded across the floor a bit as I sent my notepad and pen flying in the opposite direction across the room.

_Why_ did Bella feel like she had to lie for them? Fake her own death for them?

Everything was just too damn confusing. Billy knew all along that something was going with the Cullens, but he never said anything. If Bella were ever truly in danger, wouldn't he have told me? I refused to accept that my closest friend would have allowed her to get wrapped up in something that dangerous.

Could that mean the secret wasn't necessarily bad? Just…worth keeping? Were they in witness protection? Was someone after them?

That made me wonder, whatever it was, how long did Bella know? How long had she been covering for them?

I just didn't know. I didn't know anything.

All I knew right now was that I was done being played and kept in the dark. No more games. No more bullshit. I wanted answers. _Now._

I reached for my cell phone and scrolled through my contacts for Jacob's number. It rang through to voice mail the first time. And the second. And the third. On the third try, I finally left a message. "Jake, it's Charlie. Listen, you wanted me to let you know if I found anything out and I- … Jesus, Jake, I have no idea what to do with the information I have, but I need you to start talking _yesterday_. I'm headed down to the Rez. I'll try to find you at your place first."

I quickly added, "Put on a damn shirt," before ending the call.

Now to track down Jake.

I grabbed my car keys and hurried out the door. In my rush, I almost missed the postal envelope leaning against the house just outside the door.

As I bent over to grab it, I tried to remember if I'd ordered anything in the last couple weeks. I was coming up with nothing until I looked at the return address – it was the PO box in Alaska.

"Get the hell outta here," I mumbled as I went right back into the house.

La Push was gonna wait.

Billy's letter had taught me a thing or two about opening important pieces of mail while standing. Not a good move. I moved quickly into the living room and fell into my beat-up old chair.

My fingers quickly tore open the large envelope and I pulled out another, smaller envelope. This one had a note written on the front in an unfamiliar, feminine handwriting. Definitely not Alice's. It read simply, "Charlie, you should have had this years ago."

Fingers trembling, I carefully ripped into the manila envelope. A weight laid heavily on my chest. I couldn't have taken a deep breath if I wanted to. It all came down to this.

The document inside felt glossy on the front, obviously a photo. I asked for Alice's help with her best friend's possible disappearance, and someone sends me a picture? How in the world did that make sense?

I pulled the photo out of the envelope and just stared. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting to see, but it sure as shit wasn't this.

"Alice…What the _hell?_"

A/N: As always, thank you for reading. Please take a moment to tell me what you thought!

Also, I recently began a Twitter account for my thoughts on the fandom, my fic, and assorted randomness - _horizon77_ I look forward to seeing you guys there!

Coming up next – Chapter 5: Wedding Bells


	6. Wedding Bells

**Disclaimer:**** Any recognizable Twilight characters and ideas are property of Stephenie Meyer. I am not profiting from the distribution of this story. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Author's Notes:** My little fic has reached 100 reviews on Twilighted and close to that on FFn, which is a first for me. While it may seem like just a drop in the bucket compared with other stories out there, I am deeply humbled and appreciative. Thank you to all my readers and those of you who have taken a moment to review. Each and every one brings a smile to my face.

I know. It's been awhile. I won't make any excuses, but I will say it's lovely be here!

As always, this final product wouldn't be possible without the amazing talents of my betas. Thank you to jrs_storm for comma control and general knowhow and latessitrice for keeping my characters in line.

_From Chapter Four: Everybody Lied…_

_Fingers trembling, I carefully ripped into the manila envelope. A weight laid heavily on my chest. I couldn't have taken a deep breath if I wanted to. It all came down to this._

_The document inside felt glossy on the front, obviously a photo. I asked for help with her best friend's possible disappearance, and Alice sends me a picture? How in the world did that make sense? _

_I pulled the photo out of the envelope and just stared. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting to see, but it sure as shit wasn't this._

"_Alice…What the hell?"_

Chapter Five – Wedding Bells

Charlie POV

March 2011

Not sure exactly how long I sat staring at the photo in my hands. I had already flipped it over a couple times like some magic answer would suddenly appear on the back. And the envelope? No letter was stuck on the inside. I had already checked it – twice.

I had asked Alice and the Cullens to contact me as soon as possible. They had sent me a wedding photo.

"How in the _hell_ is this supposed to help me, Alice?"

Of course, it probably wasn't even Alice that sent the picture. The handwriting definitely wasn't right. So, if not Alice, then who?

Whoever was responding to the Cullens' PO box clearly knew the family well enough to have professional photos from Bella and Edward's wedding. It was actually a shot I'd never seen before – Bella and Edward with both families.

I still remembered the moment the picture was taken with total clarity - even though I had already calmed my nerves at that point with a couple of the fancy cocktails the Cullens were serving.

Bella and Edward had definitely won the weather lottery; the day had turned out to be pretty damn nice for a change. Overcast, but at least no rain. As we posed for the photo, one of Edward's big brothers stood behind me making my ears bleed with some God awful cracks about the newlyweds wanting to rush through pictures so they could go…be newlyweds.

The rest of the Cullens, Esme in particular, had thankfully come to my rescue by trying to put a lid on the kid's innuendos. I didn't even know it was possible to rattle off that many so fast Wouldn't have put it past him to have been working on those for weeks.

Meanwhile, Renee had been on my right side giggling away at Edward's brother's jokes and bouncing from foot to foot like usual – one great, big ball of energy. The photographer kept having to ask her to stand still. Clearly he didn't notice he was fighting a losing battle..

Then, of course, there had been my Bella – the pretty girl in white who had asked me to stand right next to her in the big group photo.

Not Renee. _Me_.

I'd been picturing Bella as a bride ever since she was a tiny little thing in my arms. Nothing I'd ever imagined came close to the real deal. Her dress and her hair and everything were nice, and I'm sure they were probably right in fashion, if Alice had anything to say about it. But her clothes and makeup weren't what made Bella beautiful that day.

It was just her.

Bella was so damn happy on her wedding day, and it completely lit her up. Totally struck me dumb. Never would have believed that my little, independent girl could be happy about getting married after all the crap I'm sure Renee used to tell her about marriage. Of course I had already grudgingly accepted that my daughter loved Edward, but seeing it with my own two eyes was somethin' else.

And the thing is, I almost missed it. After all the disappearing crap Edward had pulled, I wasn't his biggest fan, and I sure as hell didn't want my daughter committing to him when it seemed like he wouldn't even be capable of committing to a hair gel for very long. So I was all set to go handle the wedding weekend with all the grace of a total crab ass before Esme stopped by the house set me straight. She somehow sweet-talked me into letting go of my hang ups with Edward. I can be a pretty stubborn ox, but no one says no to Esme Cullen. And thank God I didn't. I would have missed…everything.

August 13, 2006

"Gees, kid, how many times are you gonna mess with this tie?"

Alice sighed as her fingers partially untied and retied the knot at my neck. "I don't know, Charlie. How many times are you going to loosen it and mess it up?"

I could only laugh in response. I'd done it about a hundred times, already. The second she was down the stairs I would –

"Charlie!" Alice exclaimed while my traitorous daughter smiled to herself next to me. "I'm serious. You can fuss with it all you want once you're sitting. Just leave it alone for the walk, okay?"

Her eyes met mine as she gave the bowtie one last tug. "Sorry."

"Alright, alright," I surrendered with hands in the air. "I promise not to touch it until I'm sitting. Deal?"

Alice thought about it for a moment before nodding her approval. "Deal. Much better! Bella? Bouquet?"

Bella handed Alice back her bouquet and gave her maid of honor a tight smile.

_Nerves are hitting right on schedule, I see._

Having picked up on Bella's worry just as I had, Alice leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You're going to be fine, Bells. Just remember to go slowly."

She turned to me and added, "Wait until the music changes, then follow me."

With that, Alice started down the stairs leading to the Cullens' living room and left me alone with the bride for the first time all day. Now was my chance to say what I'd been wanting to say since I had first laid eyes on Bella in her dress.

Just as I was about to speak, the damn music changed just like Alice said it would. Bella took a wobbly step towards the staircase, but I tugged her back to me. "Dad, seriously if we miss our cue, I'm turning Alice on _you_."

"I know, Bells, I know. It's just…Can you promise me something?" I said, my voice a lot quieter than I had intended.

Bella looked up at me and the smirk disappeared. "Yeah, Dad. Of course."

"Promise me you know you'll always be my baby girl. I know you've gotta go to him. I just…I don't know. I need to make sure that you know…Always mine, too, right?"

I watched Bella's eyes become glassy and said a silent prayer that she wouldn't cry. I didn't know if I could handle her tears right now, and I _knew_ I couldn't handle Alice's wrath for ruining her makeup when she wasn't there to touch it up.

Luckily, Bella was able to get a handle on them before they made a complete showing. Just as softly as I had spoken, she replied, "Yeah, Dad. Always."

_Well, alright, then. Let's do this._

I led Bella down the stairs, more than a couple beats too late. I thought about walking at a faster pace once we reached solid ground, but I was already up Shit Creek with Alice. Definitely didn't need to add going up the aisle too fast to the list.

As it turns out, I didn't need to worry about being the one to mess up the pace. My job shifted quickly from escorting Bella down the aisle to restraining her from running down it. The minute her eyes caught sight of Edward at the other end, everything about her body language changed. Gone were all the nerves that I'd picked up on since the moment I came into her holding area in Alice's room. Now all she wanted to do was get to her groom.

"Slow it down, kid," I muttered out of the corner of my mouth.

Bella listened to me. Mostly. I could still feel the eagerness coming off her in waves, but at least Alice wouldn't crucify us both for power walking down the aisle.

I turned my eyes back to Edward and tried to find the cocky, rich bastard that had broken my daughter's heart and then stolen her from me. Problem was, he just wasn't there. All I could see was this kid who was obviously madly in love with the pretty girl on my arm.

Suddenly, it didn't seem so damn wrong to hand her over to him.

Of course, that didn't stop me from silently launching into a slew of threats generously packaged with the f-bomb just for him. If I thought them hard enough, maybe they would be clear enough in my eyes for Edward to get it.

_Don't mess this up again, or it's your ass, son._

What I thought would be the longest walk of my life ended before I could really take in the moment. Bella and I suddenly stood right in front of Edward, and it was time to give her away. At that moment, I wished I could have been anywhere else in the world - getting some dental work done or even yet another fitting with Alice. My entire life as a father had been about getting Bella for a short time and then having to hand her back to Renee.

I would do anything to not have to give her away again.

But in the same moment that I hesitated and bargained for a way out, Bella turned towards me and smiled that damn smile she gets whenever she's around that kid. Right then, I knew I what I had to do.

I had to smile.

I had to kiss her on the cheek.

And then I had to give her away.

So I did.

"Son, this is my little girl," I started.

"I'll take care of her, Charlie. I promise," Edward said to me and shook my hand.

_Message received. Good._

I took Bella's hand and laid it gently in Edward's, all the while feeling like I did every blessed time I let her board an airplane back to Phoenix. Only this time, she wouldn't be coming back next summer.

Edward would be good to her, but that didn't really make letting her go any easier.

Pastor Weber welcomed the guests and asked everyone to be seated as I made my way over to my reserved chair in front. Renee laid her hand on mine for a moment, but withdrew it faster than I would have liked so she could focus on whatever the pastor was saying about love.

But it was the gentle squeeze I felt on my shoulder that brought everything back into focus for me. I turned around and smiled at the woman I knew would be there. Sue Clearwater. I banished the familiar feelings of guilt that came along with being around her and just accepted her comfort for what it was.

I wasn't sure what would happen between Sue and me in the future, but just maybe we'd get our own happy ending one of these days.

Present Day 

Of course, we didn't get any sort of happy ending. Life completely changed for me so soon after the wedding, and Sue had acted funny around me ever since.

Meanwhile, that same happiness I enjoyed seeing on my daughter's face on her wedding day had also eaten away at me for years. Woken me up in sweats. Gave me heart palpations. Drove me to drink a few more beers than I should have.

It wasn't exactly her _happiness _that day that killed me. It was how damn little time she'd had to _be_ happy.

My finger brushed over Bella's face, smiling back at me from the photo. Two weeks later, there had been an accident in the woods, and Bella wasn't ever going to get to be happy again. It was devastating.

At least, it had been.

Now, I didn't know what the hell to think about the accident. The PO box and the photo in my hand were not making anything any easier, either. In a weird way, I guess I was kind of appreciative to have this photo. When Bella had gotten back from her honeymoon, she gave me a framed picture of one of her favorites – a candid shot of just her and Edward. It was beautiful.

It had also turned out to be one of the only photos I had of the wedding. Alice asked me numerous times if I wanted a larger collection during the year we kept in contact. Even though I had told her no, I did eventually get a few more of Bella and I about six months after the accident. The photo I received today was the first one to have not only Edward, but the Cullens, too.

I just…I didn't get it. The note on the envelope had said I should have had the picture years ago, and I couldn't argue with that. What was stumping me was why in the hell _this _was the answer to my request for contact. How was everything connected? I picked up the envelope and stared at the handwriting on the front. "Who _are_ you?"

My letter had been addressed to Alice, but she definitely wasn't the one responding. At least, if it was, she hadn't acted alone. Alice had given me enough handwritten prewedding assignments and itineraries; I would recognize her curlicue letters anywhere. But I certainly didn't put it past her to have someone else write for her if it fit her agenda.

I just had no idea what the hell that agenda might be.

So who could have written for her? Esme? Her sister? Maybe one of their cousins helped her out.

I couldn't help the smile that crossed my face. "The cousins."

August 13, 2006

"Charlie Swan, father of the bride," the prettiest little voice said from behind me.

I turned around and almost lost my grip on the sweaty can of Reiner Emmett had managed to score for me. One of the blonde knockouts that Esme pointed out to me earlier was now standing directly in front of me. They were first or second cousins of the family or something. I didn't know exactly how they were related. Right now, with her smirking at me in that low-cut, silvery dress, she could have been the Cullens' plumber for all I cared.

"Uh, yeah, that's me."

_Mmm-hmm. That's the smooth ladies' man everyone's talkin' about, right there, boys._

Over the top of the girl's head, I could see both of Edward's brothers on the other side of the dance floor pointing and laughing. Couldn't blame them. I'm sure the two of us looked ridiculous together.

Bless her heart, Edward's cousin just giggled off my awkwardness. "Well hello, Charlie. I'm Kate. I think Esme might have already told you that we're family?"

"Yep. She did. She did say that."

More of that giggling, followed quickly by a gentle hand wrapped around my arm. Good Lord, this woman smelled amazing. I could tell Kate was saying something, but I was having a hard time focusing beyond her golden eyes and long lashes bobbing up and down every time she-

"Care to _finally_ ask the maid of honor to dance? I've only been waiting all night."

I dragged my eyes away from the vision in silver to find another, more familiar vision. This one was in purple, and even though she was in some seriously high heels, she was still comically shorter than I was.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Of course, Alice." I looked back to her cousin. "Uh, I'm going to-"

"You two go ahead, Charlie. It was a pleasure. Truly."

With one last squeeze, Kate dropped her hand from my arm and walked back into the crowd around the dance floor.

I felt the beer can ripped from my hand, and I looked back to Alice just in time to see her put it on the table closest to us a little harder than she needed to. "Beer can? Really, Emmett? I said absolutely no cans," she muttered.

"Well, I don't know, Alice. I don't think anyone cared about –"

Alice put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at me. _Aw, crap. Back pedal._

"No, no. You're right. I should have stuck to that fruity…blue thing."

A small smile. Alice dropped her hands from her hips and said, "It's called 'Something Blue,' and is maybe not the most manly of drinks. But _someone_ would have had to _really_ go out of his way to get a can past me and into this reception."

Behind Alice, I could see Emmett shrugging wildly and saying something like, "What? What?" over and over to anyone around him that would listen. Must either have hearing like a damn bat or he guessed exactly what his sister was probably thinking.

"Look, Alice-"

"No, no, no. Don't _you_ apologize. I have a feeling I'll have an opportunity to get back at that one soon enough. For now, you still owe me a dance."

Much as I hated to disappoint the girl that was as close to a second child as I was going to get, the idea of dancing with Alice was making me more than a little nervous for some reason.

My eyes quickly found the reason not a moment later. I hesitated. "Uh, Alice? You sure that boyfriend of yours is gonna be okay with that?"

Alice glanced over her shoulder to see what I was seeing. Jasper was standing next to Emmett and glaring at me in a way that told me he was definitely _not_ okay with that.

"Oh, don't mind him. He just has a hard time putting a lid on the jealousy. Come on!"

Before I could put up any more of a fight, Alice had me by the hand and was dragging me toward the dance floor. We darted in between groups of guests talking around the outskirts and pushed our way to the center of the dancing couples. When she'd found room on the dance floor, Alice swung around and placed her free hand on my shoulder. She looked up at me expectantly.

I laughed and placed a hand on her hip. "Really don't ever take no for an answer, do you?"

"Mmm, no. Never," Alice replied simply.

My fingers gripped her waist harder as we began to sway, and I realized they weren't sinking into her side at all. Even her fingers on the hand I held in mine were all bone. "Alice, you been eating okay, kid? I know how much stress you must have been under putting this thing together."

Alice's lips twitched into a smile. "Oh, please. It's summer vacation. I had all the time in the world to pull this off. Piece of cake! And to answer your question, of course I've been eating. You should have seen me pigging out just last night. Don't worry about me."

I'd read enough about eating disorders in the weeks before Bella first got to Forks to not fully buy what Alice was trying to sell me. "Well, you know, you just eat like a bird when you're over, is all."

A funny expression crossed Alice's face, almost like my stupid suspicions had made her happy. I felt her squeeze my shoulder gently. "I eat, Charlie. It's okay."

We spent a few moments dancing in silence, which gave me an opportunity to finally figure out a way to ask the question I'd been dying to ask. Too bad it didn't come out as eloquently as I had planned.

"So, what's wrong with your cousins?" I blurted out.

Alice's eyebrows shot up. "I'm sorry?"

"That didn't come out right."

"That's what she said!" Emmett called from a few yards away where he was dancing with his girlfriend.

_Good God, that kid never stops. How the hell could anyone hear over the music, anyway?_

"It's okay," Alice said, following it up with a little laugh as we both noticed the glare Esme was sending Emmett's way. "No, seriously, I understand what you're trying to say. I was actually hoping you might have been too distracted by Kate to notice."

"Aw, come on, Alice. Give me a _little_ credit, will ya? You came swooping in like a mama hawk to save me, and I'm not supposed to notice?"

Alice hesitated for a second, but relented with a shrug. "Okay, it's just…I mean, don't get me wrong. I love those girls and all, but…"

"But…" I prompted her.

"But, they're just difficult to rein in, sometimes."

Dressed like that and looking the way they did, I bet they were. If it weren't for whatever the hell was going on between Sue and me, even I might have been seriously tempted to give it a go. "I gotcha. Real man eaters, huh?"

Emmett burst out laughing at something so loud it drowned out whatever Alice was trying to say in reply. As he was almost immediately herded off the dance floor by both Carlisle and Esme, I finally connected the dots with his behavior – exactly how much alcohol had that boy been sneaking?

Instead of insulting Alice's family even further tonight, I simply asked, "What's the matter with that kid, tonight?"

"If only I knew, Charlie."

Bella caught my eye from where she was dancing with Edward. She mouthed, "Are you okay?"

Ever the worrier, that one. I rolled my eyes and nodded back, both of which Alice caught.

Giggling, Alice said, "She just worries, Charlie. You know how Bella is."

"Guess she probably doesn't want her old man getting caught up in bad news, huh?" I asked, steering the conversation back to where I wanted it.

Alice sighed and pulled a face. "It's…They're not bad news. Just…Intense?"

_Intense? Sure. And gorgeous._

Happy to keep that thought to myself, I instead asked, "So, I think Esme said you were all close?"

"Mmm-hmm."

I wondered why Alice had suddenly become more tight-lipped. Hopefully she wasn't too offended that I'd called the girls bad news. "Look, I didn't mean to say that your family was bad news. That was-"

Alice squeezed my hand with a giggle. "Charlie! I didn't think twice about it! Like I said, I love them, but they are who they are." She groaned and lifted her pointer finger from my hand to gesture across the dance floor. "See what I mean?"

I scanned the other side of the reception area and found Kate and her sister tag-teaming a very skittish-looking Mike Newton. He clearly couldn't choose between doing whatever they asked him to do and running away as fast as he could. At the moment, he was opting for staring at them with his mouth hanging open like a cartoon character.

_Been there, buddy._

"Poor kid," I mumbled.

As I turned my attention back to Alice's golden eyes, I was surprised to notice that they were almost the same, odd color as the girls hitting on the Newton boy.

"How did Esme say you were related to them, again? Cousins?"

Alice nodded. "Kate, Tanya, and Irina – the one who isn't here – are all Carlisle's cousins. Carmen and Eleazar are related to Esme, but I always lose track of that one. I'm pretty sure there's a 'twice removed' in there somewhere," she ended with a laugh.

"So you're not actually related to any of them? Your eyes are very similar to Kate's, Alice. Really, almost identical."

"Oh, you know, light brown is actually a very common mutation. Were you even paying attention in high school biology?"

Before I could answer, the slow song we were dancing to ended, and the band leader began talking to the guests. Alice pointed and exclaimed, "Ooh – look!"

I followed her finger and saw Edward practically dragging my daughter onto the dance floor. "It's time for the bouquet and garter belt tosses! I can't believe you let me get so distracted, Charlie! Come on!"

I didn't follow Alice, though. Didn't really think I'd survive watching Edward stick his hands up my daughter's dress without a trip to the ER for one of us being involved.

_As least there's a doc on site, already_, I thought with a smirk.

Instead, I wondered off to find Billy and intended to scrounge up another beer while I was at it.

Present Day

Alice's eyes.

_God, that's right._

After dancing with her at the reception, I'd gotten pretty distracted. Between Emmett gleefully pointing out the cooler of Vitamin R he'd hidden for me and Jake showing back up from north of God-knows-where to crash the party, I had completely forgotten about the conversation I'd had with Alice by the end of the night. Now, looking at the wedding photo in my hands, I couldn't _stop_ thinking about it.

Alice's eyes were as pretty as ever in the wedding photo, that almost unnatural goldish color I'd convinced myself was the same as Kate's. The cousins weren't in this group picture to compare, but it didn't matter. Not anymore.

Since when did the Cullens have the _exact _same color eyes?

I studied Edward's family in the photo like I'd never seen them before. Sure, I'd seen the Cullens all together a couple other times – Bella's graduation…the memorial. Nothing had ever struck me as particularly odd about their eyes before the wedding and hadn't since then. But this was undeniable evidence.

Holy crap, had I picked up on something five years ago?

What was it that Alice had tried to tell me about their eyes at the reception? _"Oh, you know, light brown is actually a very common mutation."_

_The hell it's not, Alice. At least not this golden color, anyway._

Everyone had been lying to me for who knows how long. I should have known that even Alice, the sweetest little thing I'd ever known, would have been hiding something from me, too.

My fingers twitched and grabbed onto the wedding photo too tightly, forcing me to lay it carefully on the table next to me. I didn't want to wreck one of the last pictures I had of Bella, no matter where it came from or what it meant. Besides, it could be the piece of evidence I needed to get to the bottom of what had been going on right under my own nose.

I stared at the Cullens again, smiling up at me from the glossy picture. There'd be no way I could excuse this as my overactive imagination, now. There they were – all seven of them – with the same eye color. The exact same, weird-ass eye color.

No matter what line Alice had tried to feed me, gold was not a common eye color. Now how in the hell had seven people with the same freaky eyes wound up living together by chance? It just didn't add up.

As a cop, I'd been trained to never accept coincidences. The Cullens had a secret worth keeping. Every bone in my body was telling me that their eyes _meant_ something.

"Shit," I mumbled as I pulled out the list I had started with everything I'd found about the Cullens and that day in the forest.

_- B's hair – hairspray?_

_- K-9 unit refused to track E's scent_

_- Wedding photo missing from B's wallet_

_- Food at the campsite_

_- Mourning…did the Cullens know?_

_- Transcripts missing – all Cullen kids pre-adoption_

_- Money_

_- Not allowed on the Rez_

_- Weird diet – never ate_

_- Uneasy around them_

_- California?_

I grabbed my pen and made an addition to the growing list:

_- Golden eyes_

"Shit," I said again, this time tossing my pen down and flopping back in my chair as I did so. I still had no idea where any of this was taking me. All I did know for sure was that I was quickly losing my focus. The lies and manipulation were getting the best of me and making me really pissed off at the whole damn Cullen family.

And Billy.

And Jacob.

And anyone else involved who'd known more than Bella's own father.

"Shit!"

_What the hell had I gotten into? What the hell had _Bella_ gotten into? _

There it was – the centering agent I needed to refocus. Bella had gotten herself so involved in this, she had to leave everything…and every_one_ behind. Billy was right; I was sure of it now. That meant that Bella was out there and could need my help. I just needed to figure out what the hell had been going on so I could decide on a next step.

I grabbed the photo from the side table, convinced I could handle holding it, again. While I was still wearing my angry father's hat, I could also feel my inner cop itching to think logically about what I had uncovered.

Nothing the officer in me liked more than a mystery.

Of course, I wasn't so sure I deserved to be the police chief, right now. Had the Cullens' eyes always been like that? Could I have really been _that_ unobservant?

Unfortunately, I really had no way knowing for sure one way or the other. The only two other photos I had of any of the Cullens both had just Edward in them - the one Bella had given me from the wedding and one I had taken of them at their graduation. In both pictures, Edward wasn't even looking at the damn camera, but down at her. Lotta help those would be.

_Wait, wasn't even looking at the camera? _

Was he _purposely_ not looking at the camera in those photos? Had he known to not have his eyes captured on film? _That little son of a bitch._

But it made sense. Why Edward was hardly in any photos and didn't look into the camera when he was. Why Bella had chosen a similar wedding picture of them to give me. Why Alice hadn't given me any other wedding photos with the Cullens.

Their eyes gave them away.

But that wasn't all. The Cullens weren't just a fuzzy memory, anymore. They were right in front of my eyes, and I wasn't going to miss anything this time.

Once again, I traded the photo for my list of oddities and added, "_Pale. Very pale_."

I leaned back in my chair and studied the list for a moment. The notes I had jotted down were quickly separating themselves into two groups – mysteries about the accident and observations about the Cullens themselves.

_Huh._

I flipped back and forth between my original list and a new sheet of paper, creating a new list of just the items I'd written about Edward's family:

_- K-9 unit refused to track E's scent_

_- Not allowed on the Rez_

_- Weird diet – never ate_

_- Uneasy around them_

_- Golden eyes_

_- Pale. Very pale_

"Jesus, what the hell _are_ these people?"

And there it was.

The knot in my gut that had been twisting around on itself suddenly clenched hard. I swear I had meant to ask myself, "_Who_ – _Who_ the hell are these people?" But I didn't. I had asked _what_ they were, and now I couldn't stop asking myself that question.

That wasn't normally like me. Billy was always the one who'd believed that there was more in our world than just regular Joes like us. But right now, I couldn't get his last words to me out of my head,_ "There's still a bunch of stuff out there in this world you haven't learned yet. Make it your mission to find out."_

How the hell much had Billy known? Could there really be something…more out there? Was I going crazy for even considering it?

I tossed my notebook onto the table and rubbed my strained eyes. Of course I was crazy for considering it. But I couldn't deny that something weird was going on, and the more I let the shock settle, the more I also couldn't deny that something weird was going on with the Cullens, specifically.

The one question I kept coming back to more than anything else, even more than what the Cullens were, was why Billy hadn't just given me something more to go on. Something. _Anything._

I turned my head and looked at the empty space where my best friend had parked his chair so many times to "watch the game," which was always just code for bullshit around and drink beer. "I know exactly why you didn't tell me anything more. Because you're a stubborn, superstitious, old man!" I leaned forward in my chair and continued, "Always knee-deep in all your damned traditions and customs, and I got it. I always got it. I knew when to keep my nose out of tribe business, but Jesus _Christ_, Billy! I'm her father! Don't you think you could have told me what was going on with the Cullens when she started seeing that boy? When they were going to get married? When she was still _here_ and I could have…done…_something_?"

By the time I'd gotten my tirade out, my face had grown hot, and I could my feel my heart flop heavily in my chest. "WHAT THE _HELL_, BILLY?" I yelled.

The empty space didn't have an answer for me. No one did. Billy was gone and yelling at the floor sure as shit wasn't going to get anything done, except maybe riling me up enough to have the big one and join him up there at the Pearly Gates.

_At least then I'd be able to kick his ass for keeping this from me._

I relaxed back into the chair and tried to focus around my emotional haze and think like a cop. Even though something seriously funky was going on, it seemed like both Bella and Billy knew what it was. That had to count for something. This…whatever "this" was…didn't have to necessarily be bad. Problem was, without either of them in the picture, getting answers was going to be difficult.

That left me right back where I started from – the PO Box.

It was becoming very unlikely that it had been Alice – or any of the Cullens, for that matter – who had sent me this photo. They'd taken too many precautions in the past to blend in. I'd like to think that as both Bella's dad and Chief of Police, they'd had to have done a pretty damn good job if they'd been able pull the wool over even my eyes. This picture? It made everything too clear. Whoever had sent it would have had to have known I'd notice _something_.

Unless, of course, it _was_ one of the Cullens. Hadn't I already considered that someone would have to be pretty close to the family to have a formal portrait like this? Wouldn't someone close enough to have a copy of such a damning picture also have to be close enough to know what was really going on?

"_Charlie, you should have had this years ago."_

It was very possible that someone in the family might not have been comfortable with me not getting an invitation into their little Club for Secret-Keepers. But who? If someone else had physically handwritten the note, say a cute, little cousin in Alaska, then any of the Cullens could have been behind the photo. My money was still on Alice.

For now, I was going to have to let the sender remain a mystery. I would put some kind of response together for the PO Box, later. Right now, I still needed to get down to the Rez. Jacob was gonna talk whether he liked it or not. The time for game-playing was over. Besides, his old man he is not. Jake never was very good at keeping secrets secret for long.

I forced myself out of the chair and grabbed the wedding photo. Hopefully, it would be okay out of the envelope. I sure as hell wasn't going down there with the PO Box number and note because honestly? I wasn't sure I completely trusted that information with my best friend's son.

Since Renee left Forks with Bella, my life had been about waiting for Bella to come back. I had waited for to her come back every summer. I waited for her while she flitted off to Phoenix junior year and California her senior year. Now, Bella was out there…somewhere. Time for waiting around was over. Time to go get her back, if I had to go to the farthest corners of the earth to do it.

Starting with La Push.

To be continued…

Author's Note: Thank you for coming back and hanging out with me after my long hiatus! Hope it was worth the wait. Take a moment to leave some feedback, or catch me on Twitter - _Horizon77_! See you soon with chapter six!


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